Marie-Chantal contre le docteur Kha (1965)
Directed by Claude Chabrol

Film Review

An inaugural figure of the French New Wave, Claude Chabrol went on to specialise in dissecting the moral failings of the French bourgeoisie in a series of popular comedies and thrillers.  Between these two phases of Chabrol's career, he had a few notable failures (L'Oeil du malin, Ophélia, Landru) which forced him to take on some commercial films if he was to continue working as a film director.  When spy thrillers were at their peak in the mid-1960s (following the success of the first James Bond movies), Chabrol became a box office winner again with his three entries in the genre, Le Tigre aime la chair fraîche (1964), Marie-Chantal contre Dr. Kha (1965) and Le Tigre se parfume à la dynamite (1965). 

Released on 25th August 1965, Marie-Chantal contre Dr. Kha is the more colourful of Chabrol's spy thrillers, a Franco-Spanish-Italian production whose title is a sly allusion to James Bond contre Dr No, although its content and style owe more to the recent Fantômas films. As with Chabrol's other genre work, critical reaction to the film was mixed, some seeing it as an easily forgotten minor offering, others rating it a jubilant cousin of Georges Lautner's Les Tontons flingueurs (1963).  It is certainly a world apart from the kind of films for which Chabrol is now known, a kitsch adventure with more than a touch of the weirdly absurd, in which its director's humour is at its most caustic.

Chabrol couldn't resist making several references to his English counterpart, Alfred Hitchcock (the director he is most frequently compared with), and even turns in a Hitchcock-style cameo.  One of the camera operators on the film was a young Claude Zidi, who would later become a film director in his own right, helming a string of box office hits that included Les Bidasses en folie (1971), L'Aile ou la cuisse (1976), La Zizanie (1978) and Les Ripoux (1984).  The pleasing score, well-suited to the film's extravagant, comic-book feel, was provided by Pierre Jansen and Michel Colombier.

The eponymous heroine, Marie-Chantal Froidevaux des Chatenets, is portrayed with seductive charm by Marie Laforêt, wrong-footing her enemies by pretending to be an empty-headed bimbo whereas she is in fact a smart and efficient operative, a more than adequate rival for agent 007.  The impressive cast line-up includes Francisco Rabal (a frequent collaborator with Luis Buñuel), Serge Reggiani, Roger Hanin, Charles Denner and Stéphane Audran (Chabrol's wife at the time).  The villain of the piece - somewhere between Fu Manchu and a SPECTRE member - is superbly played by the American-armenian actor Akim Tamiroff.

Marie-Chantal contre Dr. Kha may be pretty inconsequential fare when set against most of Chabrol's other work but it was a moderate success on its first release (attracting just under one million spectators in France) and offers some entertainment value, providing it isn't taken too seriously.

Film Synopsis

A man named Dumont is on a train heading for Switzerland when he is killed by secret agent Bruno Kerrien.  The latter finds what he is after in the dead man's possession - an odd-looking item of jewellery in the shape of a blue panther's head with rubies for its eyes.  Realising that several other spies are after this curious object, Kerrien wastes no time passing it on to Marie-Chantal, a woman he meets for the first time in the restaurant car.  She is taking a holiday with her cousin, Hubert de Ronsart, and gladly agrees to look after the harmless curio for a few days.

As Marie-Chantal checks into her next hotel, she has no idea that agents from all over the world are on her heels, each intent on recovering the mysterious object in her possession.  Most determined of these is Dr Kha, who has had Kerrien in his sights and ends up killing him.  Before Kerrien dies, he manages to get Marie-Chantal to agree to deliver the jewel to Ali Kadou, a souk trader in the Moroccan town of Agadir.  She isn't deceived for a moment when a strange woman, Olga, shows up claiming to be Kerrien's wife.  Olga is in fact in league with the ruthless Dr Kha!

With his prize now within his grasp, Dr Kha sends his dependable henchman Sparafucile after his enemies. Ali Kadour is killed and Marie-Chantal narrowly escapes with the help of a man named Castillo.  Olga succeeds in stealing the jewel, and it is only then that Marie-Chantal discovers just why so many people are so keen to get their hands on it.  Castillo reveals that the object contains an incredibly potent virus which has the power to wipe out all life on earth.  It is indeed fortunate that Marie-Chantal took the precaution of removing the ruby eyes from the panther-head jewel, as these contain the killer virus.  If these were to fall into the hands of Dr Kha no one would be safe.  The entire world would be at his mercy...