That Man From Rio/Up To His Ears

Two consecutive 1960s action-comedies from director Philippe de Broca shook up the notion of French New Wave cinema as being neurotic and over-intellectualized. The charming international 1964 smash That Man From Rio stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a Parisian soldier on leave who is caught up in a wild chase through Brazil in pursuit of his kidnapped girlfriend (beguiling Françoise Dorléac, who was fated to die in a car wreck). De Broca and a small army of screenwriters intended to make a Tintin adaptation but, finding early drafts inadequate, instead lensed this original crowd-pleaser in the breezy Tintin spirit. Even more extravagant and stunt-filled (but not quite as effective), 1965's Up to His Ears, based on a Jules Verne farce, is about a suicidal idler—Belmondo again, playing an aristocrat in Hong Kong—who arranges his own murder, only to regain his sense of joie de vivre after falling for brainy stripper Ursula Andress (she puts clothes on during the act), forcing him to dash all over Asia to avoid real and imaginary assassins. Extras include “making-of” featurettes, and interviews with de Broca and droll actor Jean Rochefort. Highly recommended. (C. Cassady)