Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS: 117, first appeared in the 1957 film OSS 117 n’est pas mort (OSS 117 Is Not Dead). After the highly successful 1962 release of Dr. No, the character was brought back into action in the 1963 film OSS 117 se déchaîne (OSS 117 Is Unleashed) starring Kerwin Matthews (Jack the Giant Killer) as the suave secret agent, the first of the 5 films in this beautifully restored collection and co-starring Irina Demick (The Sicilian Clan). A year later Matthews returned as OSS 117 in the 1964 film Banco à Bangkok pour OSS 117 (OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok) which co-starred Robert Hossein (Cemetery Without Crosses) and Pier Angeli (The Silver Chalice). In 1965 Frederick Stafford, the star of Hitchcock’s Topaz, took over the OSS 117 role in the film Furia à Bahia pour OSS 117 (OSS 117: Mission for a Killer) and reprised the role in the 1966 film Atout coeur à Tokyo pour OSS 117 (OSS 117: Mission to Tokyo). After a one-year hiatus OSS 117 returned in the 1968 film Pas de roses pour OSS 117 (OSS 117 – Double Agent) – starring John Gavin (Psycho, Spartacus) as the deadly agent with Curt Jurgens (Karl Stromberg of The Spy Who Loved Me), Margaret Lee (Secret Agent Super Dragon), Luciana Paluzzi (Fiona of Thunderball), George Eastman (The Unholy Four) and Robert Hossein appearing in his second OSS 117 film.
