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.

POPPIES ARE ALSO FLOWERS is a surprisingly decent little international thriller made in the Bond mould - Ian Fleming wrote it and Terence Young was even called in to direct. The film's progeny is of interest, given that it was a propaganda piece made by the United Nations to show off their abilities. E.G. Marshall and Trevor Howard play a pair of UN investigators hoping to stop an opium smuggling gang operating out of Iran, and their detection leads them to a number of slippery customers based around the world. I only know of Marshall through his roles in the likes of CREEPSHOW, so it was a surprise to see him playing an action hero here and even more of a surprise that he makes a decent stab of it. There's not a wealth of action but the train-set climax more than makes up for that with some great fight scenes. The film is well worth a watch for Bond fans looking for a pseudo-enterprise in the same mould, and an endless array of both international and Hollywood stars keeps you involved in the story: Yul Brynner, Jack Hawkins, Hugh Griffith, Anthony Quayle, Eli Wallach and even Rita Hayworth all show up to good effect here.

"Poppies Are Also Flowers" is a high-budget movie that does not work. The stellar cast has names such as Senta Berger, Stephen Boyd, Yul Brynner, Angie Dickinson, Rita Hayworth, Trini López, Marcello Mastroianni, Grace Kelly, Omar Sharif and Eli Wallach among many others. Locations in Iran, Montecarlo, Naples, Monaco and others fancy and exotic places. However the lame story and screenplay associated to non-charismatic and unfunny lead characters make this film a turkey. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Ópio também é Uma Flor" ("The Opium Is Also a Flower")