"THAT MAN FROM RIO" (1964: Dir. Philippe De Broca)
There are very few actors in the history of world cinema who are willing to risk their lives for a film. During the silent era, both Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd seemed to dance with death regularly, Lloyd even lost a thumb and forefinger in a botched explosion. For succeeding generations various performers have exhibited a desire to do their own stunts, and in France starting in the Sixties one daredevil actor perched himself above all others on the precipice of excitement. Jean-Paul Belmondo may not have been a vaudeville tumbler like Cary Grant, or a circus acrobat like Burt Lancaster, but this classically trained stage actor was just as fearless taking a punch or leaping from a tall window. Belmondo`s career as a leading man was auspiciously launched in 1960 with the art house hits Breathless and Two Women, and soon after his dramatic talents were firmly established in the challenging role of an intellectual cleric in Leon Morin, Priest (1961). The next year he began a collaboration that would last for nearly his entire career, when director Phillipe De Broca cast him opposite Tunisian starlet Claudia Cardinale as the eponymous swashbuckling rogue in Cartouche. In this lively romp, Belmondo was allowed to finally cut loose, winning over a delighted audience with his abundant charm and seemingly boundless energy. Both men basked in the unprecedented success of their endeavour, so when De Broca was denied the film rights to the famous Belgian comic book hero Tintin, he quickly developed his own similar adventure film featuring a star whom he knew could deliver the requisite heroic stunts on camera. As with all action adventure films of that era and despite its roots in the traditions of European pulp literature, That Man From Rio, couldn't help but be also influenced by the recent 007 craze, even featuring future Bond baddie Adolfo Thunderball Celi in a supporting role. Proudly flaunting its bubbly buffoonery the film's damsel-in-distress plot concerning stolen native artifacts, was in reality just a pretense to stage all manner of chases, fights and daredevilry, all the while featuring the jet set locations of Brazil, the sweet ethereal beauty of Francoise Dorleac, and of course, Belmondo`s affable humour and awe-inspiring physical courage. Even fifty years later, it still stirs the blood when Bebel (Belmondo`s nickname), performs his own vertigo-inducing high jinks in full view of the lens. It was a feat not attempted again by a major star until a generation later, when Jackie Chan took even bigger risks with often injurious results. That Man From Rio proved to be a substantial hit, and after collaborating on a more comedic follow-up project Up To His Ears (1965) co-starring Belmondo`s then girlfriend Ursula Andress, he and De Broca took a break from each other until their hilarious James Bond fantasy spoof The Man from Acapuclo a.k.a. Le Magnifique (1973), subsequently succeeded by the entertaining con man comedy Incorrigible (1975) and finally Amazon (2000), a late career mis-step uncomfortably combining the science fiction, comedy, and jungle adventure genres. Belmondo would vault into action for other filmmakers as well, but few of the those pictures possess the pure fun and innocence of those he made with De Broca, the filmmaker who made him France`s greatest action star. BLU-RAY
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