Philippe de Broca directed That Man from Rio (French: L’Homme de Rio) a delightfully enjoyable adventure, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo at his prime and Françoise Dorléac.(Catherine Deneuve’s sister, who would die in a car accident in 1967).
Theatrical release poster
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This fast-moving spoof of the James Bond films features striking location photography by Edmond Séchan of Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, and Paris.
Belmondo plays Adrien Dufourquet, an airman who embarks on a leave in Paris to see his fiancée Agnès in Rio.
Upon arrival, some South American Indians steal a valuable Amazonian statuette from the Musée de l’Homme, forcing its curator Catalan into their car. Catalan believes that the statuette holds the secret to an Amazonian treasure.
It turns out that Catalan was the companion of Agnès’ father on an expedition into the Amazonian rainforest, during which the father died.
Things change when the Indians abduct Agnès, who’s the only one who knows the location of her father’s statuette.
Adrien pursues them to the airport where he steals a ticket and boards the same plane. The pilot plans to have Adrien arrested when they reach Rio de Janeiro, but Adrien eludes the police upon arrival. With the help of Sir Winston, a Brazilian bootblack, Adrien rescues Agnès.
However, after retrieving the buried statuette, the Indians steal it from them.
In a jungle cafe run by Lola, the woman who financed Catalan, Adrien learns that Catalan murdered Agnès’ father and that Agnès is being held in a boat.
Rushing to the boat, Adrien knocks out all of Catalan’s I and rescues Agnès. Catalan finds the treasure, but an explosion set off by a construction crew causes him to be buried with it.
In the end, Adrien and Agnès flee the jungle and arrive in Paris–just in time for Adrien to catch a train back to his garrison.
Inspired by the comics of Belgian cartoonist Hergé, the movie contains several scenes that retell plot points from Herge’s The Adventures of Tintin.
The film was follow-up to Cartouche, a popular swashbuckler with Belmondo.
Belmondo, who liked Tintin comics, sports magazines, and detective novels, said at the time that he preferred making fluffy adventures like Rio than cerebral films by Alain Resnais and other intellectual directors.
Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve’s older sister, would die in a tragic car accident in 1967.
Oscar Context:
The film was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, but did not win.
That Man from Rio was a huge box-office success, claiming 4,800,626 admissions in France alone, occupying the fifth highest earning picture of that year.
Cast
Jean-Paul Belmondo as Pvt. Adrien Dufourquet
Françoise Dorléac as Agnès Villermosa
Jean Servais as the Prof. Norbert Catalan
Adolfo Celi as Mario de Castro
Simone Renant as Lola
Roger Dumas as Lebel, Dufourquet’s buddy
Daniel Ceccaldi as Police inspector
