S.A.S. à San Salvador
Encyclopedia
S.A.S. à San Salvador is a French-German film adaptation of Gérard de Villiers
' novel
of the same name, directed by Raoul Coutard. It starred Miles O'Keeffe
as Son Altesse Sérénissime Malko, the debonair polyglot
hero of a long-lived (1965-2009) series of altogether 175 spy novels.
whose family bequeathed him a huge castle
and an aristocratic appearance but no sufficient means to sustain the inherited premises or to keep up the appropriate life style. This time it is the castle's roof that requires work and forces Malko to accept another CIA mission. The secret service
is worried about rumours which endanger the US-American reputation
. It was brought to the CIA's notice that a former collaborator named Enrique Chacon (Raimund Harmstorff) allegedly went rogue in San Salvador
. Malko is supposed to investigate Chacon over the atrocities
of death squads
and then do whatever seems fit against the background of his findings. So he travels to San Salvador and goes about it. Soon he becomes a witness to the crimes of the death squads and eventually he has to realise how Chacon is indeed the driving force for all that. That leaves him no other choice than to render Chacon harmless for good before he can return to his castle and his fiancée, Countess Alexandra (Sybill Danning).
films released the very same year: Never Say Never Again
(starring Sean Connery
) and Octopussy
(starring Roger Moore
). Neither of them was convincingly realistic or absolutely true to the author Ian Fleming
who had once created this hero. The lasting success of novels about Malko showed there was a market for adventures of a newer and younger gentleman
spy who refrained from spectacular gadgets
. Moreover Malko's creator Gérard de Villiers would ostentatiously write the script and be one of the producers for all to see that this film was in accordance with his novels. Despite all good intentions S.A.S. à San Salvador didn't establish a new series of spy films but the series of novels lived on all the same and one-time “Malko” Miles O'Keeffe starred the very next year with Sean Connery in Sword of the Valiant.
. As a low-budget action film it was by nature not taken serious by the critics.
Gérard de Villiers
Gérard de Villiers is a French writer, journalist and editor. His SAS series of spy novels have been bestsellers, with his total sales running into more than 150 million. His works have been translated and are especially popular in Germany, Russia, Turkey, and Japan...
' novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
of the same name, directed by Raoul Coutard. It starred Miles O'Keeffe
Miles O'Keeffe
Miles O'Keeffe is a television and movie actor. O'Keeffe got his first big break playing the title role in the 1981 version of Tarzan, the Ape Man.-Early life:...
as Son Altesse Sérénissime Malko, the debonair polyglot
Polyglot (person)
A polyglot is someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages. A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, whereas a trilingual three; above that the term multilingual may be used.-Hyperpolyglot:...
hero of a long-lived (1965-2009) series of altogether 175 spy novels.
Plot
Like in the books Malko is a noblemanNobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
whose family bequeathed him a huge castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
and an aristocratic appearance but no sufficient means to sustain the inherited premises or to keep up the appropriate life style. This time it is the castle's roof that requires work and forces Malko to accept another CIA mission. The secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
is worried about rumours which endanger the US-American reputation
Reputation
Reputation of a social entity is an opinion about that entity, typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria...
. It was brought to the CIA's notice that a former collaborator named Enrique Chacon (Raimund Harmstorff) allegedly went rogue in San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
. Malko is supposed to investigate Chacon over the atrocities
Atrocity
Atrocity or Atrocities may refer to:* Atrocity , a German metal band* Atrocities , the fourth album by Christian Death* Atrocious , a 2010 Spanish film...
of death squads
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
and then do whatever seems fit against the background of his findings. So he travels to San Salvador and goes about it. Soon he becomes a witness to the crimes of the death squads and eventually he has to realise how Chacon is indeed the driving force for all that. That leaves him no other choice than to render Chacon harmless for good before he can return to his castle and his fiancée, Countess Alexandra (Sybill Danning).
Background
In 1983 spy films where that popular there were even two James BondJames Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
films released the very same year: Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
(starring Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
) and Octopussy
Octopussy
Octopussy is the thirteenth entry in the James Bond series, and the sixth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights...
(starring Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
). Neither of them was convincingly realistic or absolutely true to the author Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
who had once created this hero. The lasting success of novels about Malko showed there was a market for adventures of a newer and younger gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
spy who refrained from spectacular gadgets
Gadget
A gadget is a small technological object that has a particular function, but is often thought of as a novelty. Gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal technological objects at the time of their invention...
. Moreover Malko's creator Gérard de Villiers would ostentatiously write the script and be one of the producers for all to see that this film was in accordance with his novels. Despite all good intentions S.A.S. à San Salvador didn't establish a new series of spy films but the series of novels lived on all the same and one-time “Malko” Miles O'Keeffe starred the very next year with Sean Connery in Sword of the Valiant.
Reception
The film failed at the box officesBox office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
. As a low-budget action film it was by nature not taken serious by the critics.
Cast
- Miles O'KeeffeMiles O'KeeffeMiles O'Keeffe is a television and movie actor. O'Keeffe got his first big break playing the title role in the 1981 version of Tarzan, the Ape Man.-Early life:...
: Malko Linge - Raimund HarmstorfRaimund HarmstorfRaimund Harmstorf was a German actor. He became famous as the protagonist of a German TV mini series after Jack London's the Sea-Wolf and starred later on successfully in another German TV series after Jules Verne's Michael Strogoff.- Life :Harmstorf was the son of a medic from Hamburg...
: Enrique Chacon - Dagmar LassanderDagmar LassanderDagmar Lassander is a German actress.She was born in Prague to a French father and Chilean-German mother, and began her career as a costume designer in the Berlin Opera. Her first role was in 1966 in a film by Will Tremper. Starting from 1969, she began to work regularly, especially in Italian...
: Maria Luisa Delgado - Anton DiffringAnton DiffringAnton Diffring , born Alfred Pollack, was a German actor.-Biography:Diffring was born in Koblenz...
: Peter Reynolds - Catherine Jarrett : Rosa
- Monika Kalin : Pilar
- Alexander KerstAlexander KerstAlexander Kerst was an Austrian television actor.He was born in Kralupy nad Vltavou, Czech Republic and died in Munich, Germany.-Selected filmography:* Der Stern von Afrika...
: David Wise - Sybil DanningSybil DanningSybil Danning is an Austrian actress known for her many roles in B movies, science fiction films, and action films.-Early life:Danning was born in Ried im Innkreis, Austria as Sybille Johanna Danninger...
: Countess Alexandra Vogel - Franck-Olivier Bonnet : Col. Mendoza
- Didier BourdonDidier BourdonDidier Bourdon is a French Algeria-born actor, screenwriter and film director.He first reached stardom in France when he created the comedic trio Les Inconnus with Bernard Campan and Pascal Légitimus, which was very popular throughout the 1990s....
- Robert Etcheverry : Numez Grande
- Wolfgang Finck : Bart Roch