First part of the trilogy about agent 3S3 with Giorgio Ardisson
After his particularly raunchy episode in the erotic episodic film "Erotica" (1962), Sergio Sollima (1921-2015) directed a feature-length film for the first time. He had previously been a screenwriter, for example, for the Brad Harris sandal films "Die Irrfahrten des Herkules" (1961) and "Samson: Befreier der Versklavten" (1962). Sollima's most famous works would be "Brutale Stadt" (1970) with Charles Bronson and "Revolver - Die Perfekte Erpressung" (1973) with Oliver Reed and Fabio Testi.
With the invention of Walter Ross, the agent 3S3 (3rd agent from the 3rd special unit), Sollima followed on from the successful James Bond films and became a co-founder of the EuroSpy wave.
The main actor was the Italian actor Giorgio Ardisson (1931-2014), who was previously known from sandal films such as "Vampire gegen Heracles" (1961). The well-trained sports ace was able to film many fight scenes himself and was nicknamed the "Italian James Bond".
In the first use, things get off to a good start for 3S3. His car is basically crushed like a sandwich by two truck drivers. Of course the hero escapes safely. From then on, Agent 3S3 has adventures in Beirut, Vienna, Rome and Spain. He is after a mysterious criminal organization that will of course stop at nothing. He meets beautiful women (Seyna Seyn, Liliane Fernani and Barbara Simon/Bruna Smionato), who of course cannot resist his charm. He happily beats up other men (such as Sal Borgese and Pietro Torrisi in a Viennese bar) until he meets the beefy Dakar (1920-2004, was also there alongside Steve Reeves in "Die schwarzen Piraten von Malaysia") as his toughest opponent . The well-deserved happy ending with the beautiful Barbara Simon is of course in jeopardy due to another mission. The hero just has to move on. Other roles include Jose Marco, Georges Riviere, Fernando Sancho, Jeff Cameron and Franco Andrei.
The spy thriller is by no means reinvented here. You can also tell that this film is basically the enjoyable B-side to the elaborate James Bond productions. But the fights are good, the locations are varied and the enormous wear and tear on women is wonderfully raunchy. Sergio Sollima did a lot of things right in his feature film debut and was rewarded with a sequel.
