Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Arthur Lempereur in "Up to His Ears", a story loosely based on a Jules Verne story. It's a travelogue sort of adventure film...a bit like "Around the World in 80 Days" combined with a spy film.

When the story begins, Lempereur is suffering from a big case of ennui. He's rich and successful...and wants to die because life is boring--making him an unlikable jerk. He also has a history of trying to kill himself...and each time, inexplicably, he's just fine. However, shortly after learning he's lost his fortune, he decides to take an insurance policy against himself--leaving his fiancee and Mr. Goh rich upon his death. But he cannot commit suicide, as this will void the policy so he asks his friend, Mr. Goh, to kill him. While this makes almost no sense, what follows is far more non-sensical. Suddenly, only minutes later, Lempereur doesn't want to die and tries to get Goh to not fulfill the contract. Why? I have absolutely no idea...and I kept thinking that he's been trying to die for some time...why the sudden change of heart?! What follows is an around the globe series of adventures...with death following close behind and Lempereur and his manservant (Jean Rochefort) seeing many different lands in order to track down Goh.

When the plot of a film makes no sense, you start off the picture with a HUGE disadvantage! It's also a disadvantage if you find the main character unlikable...and that is certainly the case here, as he just seems like a very spoiled guy. Can the film manage to overcome these huge problems?

Asider from the nice scenery you see around the world, there isn't a lot I liked about the film apart from the nonsensical plot. The film is filled with low humor...pratfulls, slapstick and the like. I think kids would enjoy it more than most adults and I see this as an intereresting idea for a film as opposed to actually being an interesting film.

Back in the '60s, everyone loved a cool spy flick. James Bond, Derek Flint, Harry Palmer (and even Maxwell Smart) were the famous secret agents, but probably not as many people remember "Les tribulations d'un chinois en Chine". It has French everyman Arthur Lempereur (Jean-Paul Belmondo) getting involved in espionage in Hong Kong. A really fun scene is the whole chase scene. However, in my opinion, the intrigue and stuff gets overshadowed by Ursula Andress's presence. There's one scene in particular that will very likely remind you of her role in "Dr. No".

So, there always had to be spy stories involving hot babes. A flick similar to this one is "Die Holle von Macao" (also called "The Corrupt Ones") which starred Elke Sommer. You'll probably like both movies.

After the success of THAT MAN FROM RIO, director Philippe de Broca and star Jean-Paul Belmondo reteamed for this movie. Belmondo is a young man with a dimwitted fiancee and a predatory prospective mother-in-law. His saving grace is that he is a billionaire. On being told he is broke, he has friendly Chinese philosopher Valéry Inkijinoff arrange to kill him -- a two-million-dollar insurance payout will be split between the philosopher and his fiancee. However, on seeing Ursula Andress doing a striptease (without, alas, taking off any clothes; what's the point of watching French movies?),he regains his will to live, as any sensible man would.

It's based on one of Jules Vernes' voyages extraordinaires with almost all of it shot on location. In addition, the situations are very funny, in that frantic manner that the French farceurs did such a good job at. Unfortunately, while the situations are comic, only Miss Andress and Jean Rochefort as Belmondo's long-suffering valet show any comic sensibilities.

French audiences didn't seem to care. It was successful. De Broca was a good, commercial director who always knew what his audience wanted and gave it to them, even if it seems he didn't -- or perhaps couldn't -- give them more than they might expect.