Review of The Poppy Is Also a Flower

This is not an easy film to review, because it is simply overdone in every possible way. There are too many outstanding international stars, there are too many plots, there are too many incidents and too much happening all the time, all made in a furious tempo all the way, so it is very difficult to keep track of all the elements of the confusion. E.G:Marshall and Trevor Howard are on the hunt of some major international opium smugglers, and they believe they can track them down by making the cargo radioactive, an idea introduced by Yul Brynner, who is one of the characters of the film you will remember, both as an Iranian military officer and on horseback. The action is in eastern Iran and the French riviera with Naples in between, yes, the mafia is also involved, and there are some brutal murders on the way, one in a Naples prison. Senta Berger and Rita Hayworh make two very pathetic roles, the kind of roles you would think no actress would make voluntarily, and one critic aptly suggested that many of the actors could have been under the influence as well. On the other hand, it is a typical Terence Young film, very swift and intelligent action all the way, no unnecessary word spoken, and Ian Fleming is also behind it - you recognize all the high society elements with posh night clubs and yachts and even Trini Lopez making a performance. Angie Dickinson is the one woman in the film to make a better impression, a kind of mystery woman, who no one really knows who she is, but it will be revealed eventually, when it is almost too late. It's a kind of stuffed and muddled adventure movie, and after having seen it the first time you feel motivated to see it again just to have some questions answered, but you will postpone it forever. When you see it again you will still be left with a rather hazy and muddled impression and wonder what really happened and how it all hanged together. The interesting thing is that the film is as early as from 1966, way ahead of "French Connection" and all those other fast action drug traffic films, to which eventually there never was any end, - and the problem is still there, heavier than ever.