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Opium Connection (1966)

Poppies Are Also Flowers
Danger Grows Wild
The Poppy Is Also a Flower


Cast:

Yul "He should have let Moses's people go.." Brynner is Col. Salem
Rita "Recognize me from the Shawshank Redemption"Hayworth is Monique Markos
Trini López is Himself
Stephen Boyd is Benson
Angie Dickinson is Linda Benson


What the box says:

Produced by the United Nations and containing an all star cast, The Opium Connection contains a powerful message condemning drug abuse. Although, it's success in the artistic world didn't reach the level that many anticipated, it's profits went directly to UNESCO. This was Ian Fleming's (creator of James Bond) last written work. He died before he was able to complete the screen play and subsequently the film was based on his first story outline. Filmed on location in Iran, Morraco, and Italy.


Plot:

A woman talks of the evil of the poppy from which Opium is developed. Drug addiction touches us all. This story shows how the United Nations are trying to control the Opium poppy and how nations help.

Apparently, Iran has banned poppy cultivating. A jeep and several trucks arrive in a small village. They talk with the chief. Benson offers to buy the crop and manages to get the crop by paying more than the previous buyer.

The convoy heads out and is ambushed in a narrow pass. Rebels drive the trucks off when several of them explode.

On a ship, a number of drug lords are discussing what happened. They managed to capture Benson. They need the shipment for their deliveries.

Airport in Tehran, Iran, Sam and Jones meet Colonel Salem and some other UN officials.

Salem briefs them on the poppies and mentions that Benson’s body has been discovered. The plan is to track the Opium from the growers to the buyers. Track the opium by irradiating it and using a Geiger counter. The hot scientist chick demonstrates the Geiger counter to the agents.

At the morgue, Sam and Jones learn that Benson’s wife was there. However, he never was married.

They plan to distract her and search her room. Sam has the dangerous task of drinking with her while Jones searches her room. She heads to her room unexpectedly and captures Jones. Mrs. Benson seems to be fairly skilled at martial arts, too. No Cynthia Rothrock, though…

Sam and Jones discusses everything afterwards. They return and learn she has checked out of her room.

The next day, they realize she was a fake. Sam and Jones meet with the General and Colonel Salem and discuss the plan about irradiating the Opium. The crop has to be irradiated to be tracked. Salem needs 100 men.

Salem and his posse are in native gear and riding across the desert. They run into another group heading another way. Salem and his men head on. He gives them some last minute instructions about scaling the mountain. Operating in silence is paramount. Any noise will alert the growers and spell disaster for the military force.

At night, Salem’s commandos manage to get into the growers camp and take control. Salem will be right beside the chief the entire time to keep him from alerting the buyers. The Opium is doused in radioactive particles and loaded to the buyers who take the load away.

Salem contacts his superiors. The buyers are to be tracked. Geiger counter fu ensues. The troops lose contact with the load of opium when it is loaded in a helicopter and flown off. The troops catch the convoy but don’t learn of the chopper.

In Geneva, Sam and Jones talk with UN Drug director. They have completely lost track of the opium for 10 days. They talk with some scientific expert when they discover that 150 pounds of the irradiated opium was found in Naples.

The agents arrive in Naples and are briefed on the local drug lord, Ketchio. They go the through the junkie section of the jail. Prisoners with monkeys on their backs ensue. They find Ketchio was strangled.

Sam and Jones search Ketchio’s spaghetti factory. The cold trail gets a bit warmer and leads them to Locarno, a local manufacturer of over the counter medicines.

Locarno better known as “Happy” was thrown out of the US for his illegal activities. Well, the agents question him. Locarno denies all knowledge of the drug trafficking in Naples. 2 ships that may have been transporting opium are about to leave port. Locarno volunteers to delay them until the agents get warrants to search them.

Later, Sam spots the mysterious Mrs. Benson leaving a hotel.

That night at a local hot spot, the audience watches 2 bikini clad chicks wrestling. Agents arrive to find their contact. Jones is griping about the fate of the world, etc…Sam reveals his brother is a junkie. When Oddjob arrives to escort one the men to meet their contact, Sam meets the junkie who was arrested. She starts rambling when Sam reveals that Ketchio is dead. He tries warning her to get off the junk before leaving. Oddjob kills the junkie…

The next day, the agents are shown the drug dogs that are given opium.

The agents meet with Captain Jorgensen before searching his ship. Massive search ensues with deep plumbing of the ship’s manifest.

Sam heads to Nice, France to check the owners of the ship. Later, at some club, Sam is looking for some woman. Trini Lopez is assaulting the audience with his version of the “Lemon Tree” song before breaking into Ritchie Valen’s “La Bamba.” Sam wants the photographer to get some pictures of a table where the ship’s owner is supposed to be.

Sam bumps into Mrs. Benson who is now calling herself Linda Gayle. She also is the girlfriend of Serge Marco, owner of the ship. The world jus keeps getting smaller. She introduces Sam to Serge who will have a private meeting with him later.

At the yacht, Serge needs airplane parts from Sam who is posing as airplane parts dealer. Alter, Sam sneaks around and discovers something he copies and hides in a secret compartment in his shoes. In another room, he tries to break into a drawer and runs into the Mrs. Serge. Serge walks in.

Most of the guests are taken back ashore. Serge has someone he wants to meet Sam: Jorgensen. Fade to green.

Jones has to identify Sam’s body. Supposedly, Sam was extremely drunk and fell into the bay. The cops question Serge who claims that Sam was drunker than a frat boy during Spring Break.

Jones tries deciphering Sam’s code. There will be a conference on a train. Jones gets on the train. Serge is meeting with his men. Jorgensen reveals to Oddjob about a drug agent on board: Jones. Oddjob relates the message to Serge.

Jones talks with a stoned blonde chick: Mrs. Serge. He manages to scan her purse with his Geiger counter cigarette pack. Insane rambling from stoned blonde ensues.

Oddjob tells Serge that Jones still hasn’t been found.

Jones finds the Mrs. Benson. Jones looks for stoned blonde’s room when Serge approaches. Her poodle runs off, which has the bad guys chase after to retrieve it. Jones is fine until running into Jorgensen. Middle aged white guy fight ensues. Jones shoots Jorgensen and throws him off the train.

Later, Jones can’t find stoned Blonde. Mrs. Benson drags him into her compartment where she has chick. Benson reveals she is actually Benson’s sister. Stoned blonde is on the irradiated opium. Jones has to go after Serge now.

Marco and Oddjob are still searching. Hide and seek ensues. Jones gets the drop on them but is distracted. Oddjob is all over Jones. Ms. Benson arrives. Marco jumps off the train. Jones is in hot pursuit. Huh-cooooooooooooo-cooooooooooooo-cooooooooooooo…Sorry Dukes of Hazzard moment.

Jones is beating Serge like he owes him money. Ms. Benson is able to calm down his bloodlust.

Back in the train, Jones knows there will always be another drug lord to replace the ones that get caught.


What I say:

Beware, I will fling spoilers about below...

A lot of b-movies are famous in our clan circle like the work of Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, and other directors. However, not just directors, plenty of actors and a few actresses are famous. Occasionally, a large name star fell on hard times and wound up in a b-movie. What if everything looked good? A quality cast, exotic locations, a talented director, and a plot by the creator of James Bond seems like a sure fire hit. Except for a few things.

This movie had an important meaning trying to show the dangers of illegal drugs. Some recent movies tried to do the same thing like that big named one, I can't remember right now. Traffic.. Reefer Madness from decades ago did the same thing and became an unintentional comedy by being so over the top.

The 2 agents look more like supporting characters in spy movies. I thought one of them looked like Edward Mulhare, Devon from Knight Rider. Today, the main characters would have the typical leading man look. It is shame that quality character actors are just stuck in such small roles when many are so much more talented than many of the bigger names.

Today, movies wouldn't whack off so many main characters as Opium Connection. First, Benson is offed. We get the middle age pair drug officers who become are main characters. However, Sam is killed about 10 minutes before the movie is over. I can't think of many movies where who seems to be the main hero dying for the sidekick to take care of things. I'm excluding all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies where a survivor from the previous movie dies to be replaced by another generic character.

This is a fairly complicated story not in the unravelling mystery way. I can't help but think had Ian Fleming not died, he would have clearedout the fuzzy parts of the movie, and it would be more well rounded. This seems to be a really dilluted version of a James Bond story without a jet setting agent. Instead , we have the middle aged agents that seem more like they spent too much time behind desks in their departments.

The movie needed more Yul Brynner. Though, any movie could do with more Yul. The Ten Commandments could have had the Pharoah return later and be gunned down by Guns N Moses. Sorry, really bad joke done elsewhere far better. The Opium Connection would have been much better had the Magnificent Seven rode up and shott the drug traffickers. Who really cares about reality when Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, and Steve McQueen are wielding 6 shooters to defned poor villagers?

This may be the only movie that thanks the government of Iran for help filming a movie. Granted, it was the government the Ayatollah overthrew in the late 70s. It is funny to think of the few movies set in the Middle East years after they were made. Rambo 3 had Stallone joined a group of Afghan rebels and shoot a Russian helciopter down with a bow and arrow. Afterwards, the Afghan government was overthrown by the Taliban. That is far as this move gets to current events.

To be honest, the movie didn't use the word "irradiating" the Opium. The word "impregnating" was used entirely. Somehow, Yul Brynner impregnating Opium does sound adult enough to be a in a sleazy theater in the run down part of town. OK, I'm too childish to not keep from laughing when serious looking people who discuss "impregnating the Opium." Giant of Marathon had me giggling with the number of times how something was to be taken "from the rear."



1 1/2 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

"I've come to issue long life."
"I have made these cigarettes radioactive."
"I'm not a cheap peeping Tom."
"Iranian for 'Taxi' must be 'Taxi'."
"The law of the mafia: Omerta..."
"She has a feminine headache."


Morals of the Story

Fear all movies dedicated to the memory of Adalai Stevens.
Trucks have danger buttons.
Watches can have Geiger counters.
Bikini wrestling is very classy.
Rock, paper, scissors is a great decision maker for drug agents.
Dogs love opium.
Shoes have secret compartments.