The Spy Who Went Into Hell (1965)

Perfect cast and a good story

Excellent but underrated film

A Masterpiece!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Bond second hand imitation with ugly bad actors, without any charm and a confusing plot. The director, Maurice Labro made one year before, a better Bond imitation, "Coplan prend des risques", with the beautiful Virna Lisi as a Coplan(the French equivalent of Bond) girl. Ray Danton, former Sandokan, was good at remaining Sandokan and not trying to mimic Sean Connery. The charm of Wolfgang Preiss and Charles Regnier (both formerly in Mabuse) and Horst Frank, does not save the cheap script. Pascale Petit is too petite(small, in French) for sex appeal. And Roger Hanin, I never liked him in anything.

A Russian spy ring operating in Spain is proving very successful in tracking the American fleet. Agent Jeff Larson (Ray Danton) is sent in to put a stop to the Russian efforts. Larson quickly discovers, however, that the Russians seem to be on to his every move. Larson is convinced there's a mole operating in Spain.At the very worst, Code Name: Jaguar is a harmless bit of fun. Nothing deep or meaningful, just an enjoyable enough way to spend 90 minutes. The plot is straightforward an not overly complicated, but still held my attention throughout. Nice fight scenes, interesting Spanish locations, good pacing, and a few tense moments make Code Name: Jaguar an above average Eurospy effort. My biggest complaint was how easy it was to spot the mole. A neon sign over his head flashing "Mole" is the only way it would have been any easier.Ray Danton may be my favorite actor to play the lead in one of the these Eurospy films. Looks, athleticism, attitude - he's got it all. The rest of the cast is solid. I especially enjoyed the scenes shared by Pascale Petit and Helga Sommerfield. Their bickering over Larson's attention is a hoot. Frank Horst is one other actor I'll single out. Frank is one of the best baddies you'll find. He just had the right "look".A rock solid 6/10 from me.

This is one of those many Bondesque ersatz which Europa made by the dozen after Sean Connery hit the big time on the planet.There was OSS 117,Coplan ,and a lot of others.It would be unfair,though,to write that Maurice Labro jumped on the bandwagon:he made a Coplan movie in the fifties ("Action Immédiate" ) and another one in 1964,the same year as "Goldfinger".This one takes place in Spain and is ,like the sub-Bond flicks ,terribly dated.The Russians are the villains,period.Whereas the hero is loyal ,witty (would be witty more like) ,and almost invincible (in a fight against three bulldozers ,he wins hands down),the Soviets are treacherous,they do very nasty things such as brainwashing,which makes some of the final scenes sound like a poor man's "Manchurian candidate" .As the traitor goes on repeating "I saw the light! I believe in socialism!" there's a strong anti-commie feel .Virgin Mary is more reliable though (particularly La Maquarena) Like in many spy thrillers of the era,the cast is international:the "Larson girls" are French (Pascale Petit ,whose career was on the wane at the time)and Spanish, the hero's pal is French (Roger Hanin) and the hateful aliens are often German (Horst Frank,who was almost always cast as a villain ,cause he really looked the part) Those who feel nostalgic for the spy thrillers of the sixties can have a look.It's harmless.

This is the most serious of the three contributions Ray Danton made to the sub-genre of European spy movies, the other two being Secret Agent Super Dragon (66) and Lucky the Inscrutable (67). While still being light-hearted in nature, this film at least acknowledges the deaths of human beings in the line of duty. Danton is Jeff Larson, who, his boss says can be trusted `with anything except, of course, my own daughter.'If you're in the mood for a fast moving, enjoyable adventure with a good cast, check this out. You won't be disappointed in these Bondian antics. Larson is. uhm, well as he would put it, `Don't strain yourself, baby. No one's come up with the right word yet!'