OSS 117

Kalfon, however, would purchase the rights to the character years later, resulting in OSS 117 Takes a Vacation (1970), which he co-produced and directed, with Luc Merenda cast in the lead.

However, it wasn't picked up by the networks and was eventually released as a standalone television film, entitled OSS 117 tue le taon (1971).

It retained the use of novels as a source material which was adapted to a teleplay from the book of the same name by the author's wife, Josette Bruce.

Starring actor-comedian Jean Dujardin in the titular role, this incarnation of the character is reinvented as a French spy working for the SDECE, who's portrayed as a self-important, dim-witted and politically incorrect oaf.

As a comical character, he often creates awkward social situations due to his colonial ideology, staunch French patriotism, chauvinism and machismo.

At the same time, he embodies the ideal secret agent archetype: Handsome, physically adept (he loves fighting and dances everything from the mambo to the twist), and uses his charm to seduce quite a few women.

When an ally mispronounces his codename, he eccentrically corrects him with the proper pronunciation—One Hundred and Seventeen ("cent dix-sept" in French) as opposed to Double One Seven (a light jab at James Bond's 00-prefix).