OSS 117

OSS 117 is the codename for Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, a fictional secret agent created by French writer Jean Bruce. Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath is described as being an American Colonel from Louisiana of French descent. After service in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), de La Bath worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), then the National Security Council (NSC).

In Michel Hazanavicius's films of the 2000s, the character is a French citizen working for the Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage, the French intelligence agency from 1944 to 1982 (now DGSE).

In real-life, OSS code number 117 was allocated to William L. Langer, who was chief of the Research and Analysis Branch of the OSS.[1]

Novels and films

Bruce wrote 88[2] OSS 117 novels for the French publishing house Fleuve Noir Espionnage series[3] beginning with Tu parles d'une ingénue (Ici OSS 117) in 1949, predating Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 by four years. After Jean Bruce died in a car accident in 1963, his wife Josette Bruce (signing as "J.Bruce") wrote 143 OSS 117 novels before retiring in 1985. Starting in 1987, Bruce's daughter Martine and her husband François wrote 23 more OSS 117 books.[4] The last published novel was O.S.S. 117 prend le large in 1992.[5]

The first OSS 117 film, OSS 117 Is Not Dead, was made in 1957 with Ivan Desny as OSS 117.[6]

In 1960, the rights to the Jean Bruce novel Documents à vendre, were purchased for filming by Michel Clément as Le Bal des espions (1960). However the rights to the character of OSS 117 had not been agreed upon so the character's name was changed to Brian Cannon, the name of another character from a novel by Jean Bruce, Romance de la Mort.[7]

In the 1960s, the character was featured in a successful Eurospy film series which was mostly directed by André Hunebelle. The role was played initially by Kerwin Mathews, and then by Frederick Stafford, with John Gavin playing the role when Stafford was filming Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz.

In 1966 it was announced Sean Flynn would star in OSS 117 Goes to Singapore. However another of Bruce's 1959 novels Cinq Gars Pour Singapour was shot in Paris and Singapore and was released as Cinq Gars Pour Singapour (Five Ashore in Singapore).[8]

Parodies

The 2006 and 2009 films OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and OSS 117: Lost in Rio, conceived as spoofs of the Eurospy genre,[9] both recreated and parodied OSS 117. The character, reinvented as a French spy working for the SDECE, was turned into a comedy character and portrayed by Jean Dujardin as a self-important, dim-witted and politically incorrect oaf.

These films, by director Michel Hazanavicius, are an homage to the action films and spy movies of the 1950s and 1960s (particularly Sean Connery's portrayal of James Bond, Alfred Hitchcock films, and to a lesser extent, the earlier serious adaptations of OSS 's André Hunebelle). The character of OSS 117 (pronounced "cent dix-sept"...((One Hundred and Seventeen in French)) not one one seven or even double one seven), played by Jean Dujardin, is shown as quintessentially "franchouillard" (typically French). He often creates awkward social situations due to his colonial ideology, staunch French patriotism, chauvinism and machismo. At the same time, he embodies the ideal secret agent archetype: handsome, physically adept (he loves fighting and dances everything from the mambo to the twist), and he uses his charm and seduces quite a few women.

A third film, entitled OSS 117: Alerte Rouge en Afrique Noire (English title yet to be announced), commenced production in November 2019, scheduled for release in France on 3 February 2021.[10]

List of film adaptations
Jean Dujardin portrays OSS 117 in the revival series.

Original series

Revival

References
  1. p. 543 Dulles, Allen Welsh, Petersen Neal H. From Hitler's Doorstep: The Wartime Intelligence Reports of Allen Dulles, Penn State Press, 1996.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2012-01-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath alias OSS 117
  3. "Brantonne". www.coolfrenchcomics.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  4. OSS 117 entreprise familiale, documentary for the French channel 13ème rue Archived 2010-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on 29 October 2010.
  5. p. 60 Williams, Nicola. France, Lonely Planet, 2007
  6. Blake, Matt & Deal, David The Eurospy Guide Luminary Press 2004
  7. "Danger in the Middle East (1960)". Retrieved 16 February 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
  8. "Erroll Flynn's son off to Paris for spy film role" (1966, Jun 01). Los Angeles Times
  9. Review of OSS 117: Lost in Rio on sbs.com.au
  10. "OSS 117 3: le tournage a commencé pour Alerte rouge en Afrique noire". 15 November 2019.
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