Maroc 7

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

1967 film by Gerry O'Hara

title: "Maroc 7" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1967-films", "british-thriller-films", "1967-thriller-films", "films-directed-by-gerry-o'hara", "films-shot-in-morocco", "films-set-in-morocco", "films-set-in-london", "1960s-english-language-films", "1967-british-films", "films-scored-by-kenneth-v.-jones", "english-language-thriller-films"] description: "1967 film by Gerry O'Hara" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroc_7" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1967 film by Gerry O'Hara ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

Field	Value
name	Maroc 7
image	maroc7poster.jpg
caption	Film poster by Renato Fratini
director	Gerry O'Hara
producer	John Gale
Leslie Phillips
Martin C. Schute
writer	David D. Osborn
starring	Gene Barry
Elsa Martinelli
Leslie Phillips
music	Kenneth V. Jones
cinematography	Kenneth Talbot
editing	John Jympson
studio	Cyclone Films
distributor	Rank Film Distributors
budget	£399,835
gross	£214,494
released
runtime	91 minutes
country	United Kingdom
language	English
::

Filmink called the movie "one of several thrillers made by Rank that were co-productions partly shot in Europe using international 'names'."

Plot

Louise Henderson is the editor of a respected fashion magazine, but she has a secret career as mastermind of a ring of thieves. With their professional operation as a front, Henderson uses one of her models, Claudia, and a photographer, Raymond Lowe, to steal precious artefacts and jewels. Law enforcement agencies have their suspicions about her, so undercover man Simon Grant is assigned the case. He pretends to be a safecracker to infiltrate Henderson's gang, travelling to Morocco, where Henderson intends to switch an imitation Arabian medallion for a priceless real one.

Grant is given cooperation in Morocco by Chief of Police Barrada. Things go wrong when Grant needs to kill Lowe, who has followed him. The theft takes place as planned, until Claudia dies while trying to take the medallion from Grant. To the surprise of cops and robbers alike, the precious medallion is stolen by the one person none of them suspected.

Cast

Gene Barry as Simon Grant
Elsa Martinelli as Claudia
Leslie Phillips as Raymond Lowe
Cyd Charisse as Louise Henderson
Denholm Elliott as Inspector Barrada
Alexandra Stewart as Michelle Craig
Angela Douglas as Freddie
Eric Barker as Professor Bannen
Tracy Reed as Vivienne
Maggie London as Suzie
Ann Norman as Alexa
Penny Riley as Penny
Lionel Blair as hotel receptionist
Ricardo Montez as Pablo

Production

In March 1966 Rank announced it would make nine films with a total cost of £7.5 million of which it would provide £4 million. Two films were financed by Rank completely, a Norman Wisdom movie and a "doctor" comedy (Doctor on Toast which became Doctor in Trouble). The others were The Quiller Memorandum, Deadlier than the Male, Maroc Seven, Red Hot Ferrari (never made), The Fifth Coin (never made), The Battle of Britain and The Long Duel. The film was the fifth in a series of movies jointly financed by Rank and the National Film Finance Corporation **(**NFFC).

It was produced by actor Leslie Phillips who worked 18 months setting up the movie and recalled "money was a little difficult towards the end, with the credit squeeze".

Phillips had seen The Pleasure Girls (1965) and hired its director Gerry O'Hara, who was under contract to Sydney Box. According to O'Hara, Gene Barry replaced a German actor who pulled out of the film. O'Hara said the film was "not a very happy experience... I went over budget. There were lots of problems."

The instrumental theme song, "Maroc 7", by The Shadows was released as a single and rose to No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1967.

On the release of the film, a novelization of the screenplay was published by John Burke, writing as "Martin Sands."

Reception

Kine Weekly wrote: "After a slowish and over-mysterious start, the picture gets into a very entertaining stride and the double-twist ending is fun".

Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Despite an attractive cast and a fashionably post-Bond script, something seems to have gone sadly awry with this thriller."

The New Statesman described the film as "a feeble thriller, ... Denholm Elliott, the archetypal Old Etonian, is cast as a French-Moroccan cop. Gene Barry has the quizzical air of man who's just read the script."

Leslie Halliwell said: "Complex sub-Bond tale of cross and double-cross; hardly worth following really."******

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "The heavily insured legs of Cyd Charisse are on display in this lacklustre crime caper. ... One of those misfires that makes you wonder why someone in the production line didn’t cry out “Stop, abandon ship”."

References

Chapman, J.. (2022). "The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945–1985". [[Edinburgh University Press]].
"Maroc 7".
Vagg, Stephen. (11 August 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation, 1965 to 1967".
(29 March 1966). "Rank Organisation plans nine new films". Thanet Times.
Petrie, Duncan. (January 2016). "Resisting Hollywood Dominance in Sixties British Cinema: The NFFC/Rank Joint Financing Initiative". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television.
(30 September 1966). "Leslie Phillips: abandoning the easy laugh". Evening Standard.
Dixon, Wheeler Winston. (3 December 2010). "Working Within the System: An Interview with Gerry O’Hara".
"Maroc 7 (Columbia, DB 8170)".
(2019). "UK Official Chart: Shadows". Official Charts Company.
Sands, Martin. (1967). "Maroc 7". [[Pan Books]].
(18 March 1967). "Maroc 7". [[Kine Weekly]].
(1 January 1967). "Maroc 7". [[Monthly Film Bulletin]].
Coleman, John. (24 March 1967). "Maroc 7". The [[New Statesman]].
Halliwell, Leslie. (1989). "Halliwell's Film Guide". Paladin.
(2017). "Radio Times Guide to Films". [[Immediate Media Company]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::