"House of Cards" has a preposterous plot which is total cornball. IMDb's summary says it all: "In 1960s Paris, an American boxer stumbles upon an international fascist conspiracy that aims to create a new world order." Needless to say, the French conspirators are too small in number to take over France, let alone recolonize Algeria and build the new world order. In fact, these villains are such amateurs that the extent of their talents are to accumulate an impressive arsenal of muskets in the basement, drink champagne and talk nostalgically about keeping out "black and yellow hordes," and kidnap a poor little aristocratic boy and his depressed mother Anne de Villemont (Inger Stevens). Little wonder that it only took a troublemaker Reno Davis (George Peppard), who spent his formative years pulling fire alarms at school, to defeat the whole lot of them.
Yet on the level of seeing trouble-making George Peppard poke fun at the members of the French aristocracy and outsmart them, this film does actually work. Peppard is like that unruly school boy who irritates his teachers, pulls fire alarms to avoid taking exams he has not studied for, gets into fights during recess time, and can talk himself out of any problem. When Peppard is unleashed against a bunch of amateurish Fascists at a dinner party, then a fortress, and finally a farm, "House of Cards" is very entertaining. Peppard's character also has a heart of gold, which is barely concealed beneath his alpha-male persona. He seems to be even more repelled by violence than James Bond and only kills one villain in the entire movie. He is charming to at least three women, but ultimately has eyes for only the aristocrat Anne de Villemont. This is an American James Bond who one could imagine settling down and starting a family. Unfortunately, toward the end, the cornball plot starts to take over and we are treated to a climax with the key villain Leschenhaut (Orson Welles) which does not really work.
On balance, though, I recommend this movie largely because it's actually a lot of fun watching Peppard mingle with the French aristocracy, flout their conventions, and out-think them as well as go from rags to riches through his sheer personality.
Yet on the level of seeing trouble-making George Peppard poke fun at the members of the French aristocracy and outsmart them, this film does actually work. Peppard is like that unruly school boy who irritates his teachers, pulls fire alarms to avoid taking exams he has not studied for, gets into fights during recess time, and can talk himself out of any problem. When Peppard is unleashed against a bunch of amateurish Fascists at a dinner party, then a fortress, and finally a farm, "House of Cards" is very entertaining. Peppard's character also has a heart of gold, which is barely concealed beneath his alpha-male persona. He seems to be even more repelled by violence than James Bond and only kills one villain in the entire movie. He is charming to at least three women, but ultimately has eyes for only the aristocrat Anne de Villemont. This is an American James Bond who one could imagine settling down and starting a family. Unfortunately, toward the end, the cornball plot starts to take over and we are treated to a climax with the key villain Leschenhaut (Orson Welles) which does not really work.
On balance, though, I recommend this movie largely because it's actually a lot of fun watching Peppard mingle with the French aristocracy, flout their conventions, and out-think them as well as go from rags to riches through his sheer personality.