The Magnificent One

The Magnificent One (Le Magnifique, 1973) is a French comedy from director Philippe de Broca — watch it online on iFILM. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays both the lead roles: a struggling pulp writer and the glamorous super-spy he invents. Jacqueline Bisset is his neighbor in real life and his fictional femme fatale.

François Merlin churns out a new spy novel every month for an impatient publisher. On the page, his alter ego Bob Saint-Clar is invincible — escaping every trap, defeating every villain, seducing every woman who crosses his path. Off the page, Merlin can barely afford his leaky apartment and watches his pretty English neighbor through the window, too shy to knock. As the deadline pressure builds, his real surroundings bleed into the manuscript: his bullying editor becomes the Albanian spymaster Carloffe, and Christine becomes Tatiana, the adventure's love interest.

De Broca skewers the Bond formula with affection rather than contempt, which keeps the film warm underneath all the mayhem. Belmondo's physical comedy here stands comfortably alongside his work in de Broca's earlier Cartouche. Stream The Magnificent One online on iFILM.