L'Oeil du monocle (1962)
Directed by Georges Lautner

Film Review

After the success of Le Monocle noir (1961), Paul Meurisse was bound to return as special agent Théobald Dromard for another humorous action-packed espionage adventure, courtesy of Georges Lautner.  L'Oeil du monocle (1962) follows the parodic formula of the preceding film, except that on this occasion Dromard, easily cinema's most elegant secret agent (more John Steed than James Bond), is pitted against enemy agents from at least three countries in an attempt to recover a lost Nazi treasure.  The film was ahead of its time in recognising all the clichés because today it feels like a spoof of the Bond and OSS 117 spy films that were subsequently made in the 1960s.  It is also an obvious forerunner of Lautner's more celebrated thriller parodies, Les Tontons flingueurs (1963) and Les Barbouzes (1964).

Whilst the pace flags in a few places and it is sometimes hard to keep with all the twists and turns, L'Oeil du monocle is a highly entertaining romp in which Paul Meurisse gives what is almost certainly his funniest performance (I defy anyone to watch the scene in which he takes to the dance floor and starts swinging his hips without laughing).  As he did with all of his comedy thrillers, Lautner directs the film as though it were a straight thriller, and does so with considerable flair (some of the scenes could easily have come out of an American 1950s film noir).  The underwater fight sequence at the end of the film is particularly well realised and manages to be far more exciting than the one that features in the later James Bond film Thunderball (1965).   L'Oeil du monocle was such a hit that Meurisse was persuaded to reprise his character for one final entry in the series, Le Monocle rit jaune (1964).

Film Synopsis

Twenty years ago, with WWII turning in favour of the allies, the Germans dropped a chest filled with gold and important secret documents into the sea off the coast of Corsica.  The only surviving member of the team charged with this mission, Hektor Schlumpf, now intends recovering this lost treasure for his own personal gain.  As he sets about this difficult task, he is blissfully unaware that he is being closely monitored by the secret services of three countries - France, England and the Soviet Union.  Leading the French mission is the redoubtable Commander Dromard, known as 'the Monocle'.  He manages to make contact with Schlumpf just before he is stabbed to death by his pursuers.  Now Dromard finds himself in a desperate race against time to recover the lost chest and the compromising documents it contains before it falls into the hands of a foreign power...