Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Blistering performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Many big names in this film but an actor who doesn't play a central role, steals the movie. If you haven't guessed yet, is Eli Wallach. And there is also an actress who steals it too, she's also in a supporting role, Rita Hayworth. They are the best thing of the whole movie which, is boring. Despite the fact that it has many elements of a James Bond film: director Terence Young, writer Ian Fleming, actor Harold Sakata (Oddjob in Goldfinger). The other actors, though big names, they do not excel with anything, the roles are weak, in a low and very predictable scenario: Senta Berger, Stephen Boyd, Yul Brynner, Angie Dickinson, Georges Géret, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Trevor Howard, E.G. Marshall, Marcello Mastroianni, Amedeo Nazzari, Omar Sharif. Only Anthony Quayle is also very good in another supporting role. And, Jean-Claude Pascal(Galam Khan) is credited.

"The Poppy Is Also A Flower" AKA "Operation Opium" AKA "The Opium Connection" AKA....well, it goes by many names, is a rather forgotten film today, despite its once-in-a-lifetime cast and the participation of three James Bond veterans (author Ian Fleming, director Terence Young, and Harold "Oddjob" Sakata as - what else? - a brutal henchman). Leonard Maltin dismisses it as a BOMB, but I wouldn't go quite that far. It's true that the film is mostly unexciting, and possibly frustrating when the curiosity value wears off and you realize that many of the big names in the cast either pop up only for extended cameos (Omar Sharif, Marcello Mastroyanni, etc.), or are wasted - sometimes in both senses of the term (Rita Hayworth). But the script does take a daring and unexpected turn in the middle, and near the end Terence Young stages not one, but two hand-to-hand fights on a speeding train, recalling his own "From Russia With Love". The best character in the film is Angie Dickinson's strong and mysterious "widow", but like many others, she is underused. And a sign of how much times have changed: this US co-production ends with a "Thank You" credit to the government and the people of Iran - you could hardly imagine that happening today! ** out of 4.

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.

The Poppy Is Also A Flower is an odd movie of great interest to film and trivia buffs primarily for having the coolest, if not largest, international all-star cast, including Yul Brynner, Omar Sharif, Trevor Howard, Gilbert Roland, Angie Dickinson, Rita Hayworth, E.G. Marshall, Stephen Boyd, Anthony Quayle, Marcello Mastroianni, Eli Wallach, Trini Lopez, and Grace Kelly, just to name those I can recall. The film concerns UN investigators tracing irradiated drugs from the poppy fields in Iran through the entire process of smuggling, refining, and sale. E.G. Marshall and Trevor Howard are the main protagonists on the trail of the drugs, which leads through the Mediterranean to Italy and Monte Carlo. Gilbert Roland is interestingly cast as a Mafia boss. Unfortunately the film isn't very effective, almost dull, in spite of super stars in exotic locations, in the first half, until one of the protagonists is caught by the bad guys. Sometimes it seems as if the dialog is dubbed or the soundtrack misaligned, or the acting just a bit stilted, though some is very good, especially Anthony Quayle as a cockney sea captain - he sounds like Cary Grant and looks like Victor McLaglen. The film has a few sights you wouldn't expect to find in any movie: E.G. Marshall hiding under Angie Dickinson's bed; Gilbert Roland watching Trini Lopez sing La Bomba; and Rita Hayworth playing a drug addict. So I'd recommend it if you're interested in the trivia aspects, but not for escapist entertainment.