rodrig58 Many big names in this film but an actor who doesn't play a central role, steals the movie. If you haven't guessed yet, is Eli Wallach. And there is also an actress who steals it too, she's also in a supporting role, Rita Hayworth. They are the best thing of the whole movie which, is boring. Despite the fact that it has many elements of a James Bond film: director Terence Young, writer Ian Fleming, actor Harold Sakata (Oddjob in Goldfinger). The other actors, though big names, they do not excel with anything, the roles are weak, in a low and very predictable scenario: Senta Berger, Stephen Boyd, Yul Brynner, Angie Dickinson, Georges Géret, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Trevor Howard, E.G. Marshall, Marcello Mastroianni, Amedeo Nazzari, Omar Sharif. Only Anthony Quayle is also very good in another supporting role. And, Jean-Claude Pascal(Galam Khan) is credited.

gridoon2018 "The Poppy Is Also A Flower" AKA "Operation Opium" AKA "The Opium Connection" AKA....well, it goes by many names, is a rather forgotten film today, despite its once-in-a-lifetime cast and the participation of three James Bond veterans (author Ian Fleming, director Terence Young, and Harold "Oddjob" Sakata as - what else? - a brutal henchman). Leonard Maltin dismisses it as a BOMB, but I wouldn't go quite that far. It's true that the film is mostly unexciting, and possibly frustrating when the curiosity value wears off and you realize that many of the big names in the cast either pop up only for extended cameos (Omar Sharif, Marcello Mastroyanni, etc.), or are wasted - sometimes in both senses of the term (Rita Hayworth). But the script does take a daring and unexpected turn in the middle, and near the end Terence Young stages not one, but two hand-to-hand fights on a speeding train, recalling his own "From Russia With Love". The best character in the film is Angie Dickinson's strong and mysterious "widow", but like many others, she is underused. And a sign of how much times have changed: this US co-production ends with a "Thank You" credit to the government and the people of Iran - you could hardly imagine that happening today! ** out of 4.

Comeuppance Reviews Rather than write a plot description, simply look at the cast list above. That would be the main reason anyone would want to watch "The Opium Connection". Well, I guess I'll do it anyway.Two guys from the U.N., Lincoln and Coley, played by Trevor Howard and E.G. Marshall, respectively, go to Iran to investigate the death of one of their fellow agents. Apparently, he was dealing with Iranian drug lords and attempting to buy whole poppy crops. To track the opium and see where it leads, they spike it with radioactive materials. This leads them from Iran, to various glamorous and not-so-glamorous locations all over Europe, and meeting many, many people along the way. And who is the mysterious woman they keep running into, Linda Gayle? Will they capture the head drug lord? Will they give the U.N. a good name? Yes, it's an international production, but with all those guest stars and locations, it's easy to turn into a sprawling, convoluted mess. How can the movie stay focused when every minute they have to go to a new place to introduce a new character? You get TWO performances by Trini Lopez, "Lemon Tree" and La Bamba", but my favorite appearance in the movie-long game of "spot the guest star" was by Eli Wallach. His scenery-chewing performance really stood out. But I guess he had to do something big to stand out in the muck and the mire.But I'm making it sound worse than it really is. For instance, this is probably the only movie where you'll see the credits "based on a story by Ian Fleming" and "Executive Associate Producer Del Tenney" together. That should give you a really good idea of the vibe of this movie. Because Terence Young directed other Fleming-based movies (i.e., James Bond), there is a scene where they introduce a Geiger counter that looks like a cigarette case (they test it by all handling a radioactive cigarette...can they do that?) but there is a junky sensibility at work too.I know the actual U.N. was somewhat involved in the production of this movie, so perhaps this was all a P.R. thing to make it seem like the U.N. ISN'T a corrupt, anti-Semitic, do-nothing waste...so they figured, "let's make a staid, bland time-filler, but fill it with older stars!" Typical for the U.N., this plan DID NOTHING to help them.The sound on the VHS tape under review, released on the Simitar label, is buzzy and terrible, but maybe because it is in EP mode. But it does have cool, nicely rendered box art.A Sunday-afternoon programmer type of film, "The Opium Connection" seems like the thing you might catch on channel 9 or channel 11 on a rainy day back in the 80's.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

bkoganbing Poppies Are Also Flowers is an all star amalgamation of two previous films on the narcotics trade. Sharp eyed fans of the cinema will spot plot elements from those two Forties era films, To The Ends Of The Earth and Port of New York. Of course both those films were infinitely better.Still a whole bunch of international stars lent their names and got a fat paycheck for this muddled episodic film which tries to make E.G. Marshall an action star. Talk about ridiculous.Best in the film by far are Yul Brynner as an Iranian general and Rita Hayworth as the dope addicted wife of Gilbert Roland who is one of the villains. Roland plays it rather straight and that ever present twinkle that I love in him is missing. The filming was done on actual locations including some of the harder to reach regions of Iran. Of course that was back in the day of the Shah's pro-western government and you can see photographs of the Shah in some of the shots. I also liked Hugh Griffith as I always do with those wild eyes of his, the wildest this side of Jack Elam. Griffith just dusts off his Sheik Ilderim portrayal from Ben-Hur and hams it up to beat the band. There wasn't much else the man could do, he knew he was in a Thanksgiving special.