Mr. Freedom

Mr. Freedom is a 1968 superhero film by the expatriate American photographer and filmmaker William Klein. An anti-imperialist satirical farce, it concerns the exploits of the titular white nationalist superhero and his sidekick, Marie-Madeleine (Delphine Seyrig), as they try to prevent a Communist takeover of France and solve the murder of a French superhero, Capitaine Formidable. In addition to Seyrig, the film features cameos by Donald Pleasence and Philippe Noiret, as well as the musician Serge Gainsbourg. Plot summary Mr. Freedom (John Abbey) is a Washington D.C. police officer who drinks Colt 45 on duty and moonlights as a government-sanctioned, vigilante superhero. After the 1968 Washington, D.C., riots, he is summoned to the Freedom Tower—an office building housing the U.S.'s most powerful companies- to meet with Dr. Freedom (Donald Pleasence), his handler, who informs him that another superhero, Capitaine Formidable, has been killed in France by operatives of the mysterious French Anti-Freedom (FAF) organization. Warning that this could be the first salvo in a Soviet invasion, Dr. Freedom dispatches Mr. Freedom to investigate his death and bring France back under the sway of western capitalist influences. As a last resort, Dr. Freedom equips him with "the big one," a portable nuclear device to destroy the country in the event that it falls to Communist influence. In France, Mr. Freedom joins forces with Capitaine Formidable's wife, the femme fatale Marie-Madeleine (Delphine Seyrig), to lead his own anti-communist Freedom organization; Marie-Madeleine explains that she and Capitaine Formidable ran a string of state-sponsored brothels, using the money they earned to finance anti-Communist activities while also gathering intelligence on the various diplomats and politicians who use their services. Arriving at a pro-USA rally, Mr. Freedom delivers an extended speech extolling the virtues of democracy and capitalism while also espousing white nationalist sympathies and warning of the encroaching influence of African Americans (whom he calls "niggers"), Jews, Asians, and other "undesirables" on the national stage. Assembling an army from the attendees of the rally, he expresses his intention not only to secure France against Communist influence, but also build a "white wall of freedom" around the United States. Mr. Freedom travels to the U.S.