Tintin and the Blue Oranges () is a 1964 Franco-Spanish film directed by Philippe Condroyer and starring Jean-Pierre Talbot as Tintin. It was the second live-action film, with an original story based on characters from the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, written and drawn by the Belgian artist Hergé. The accompanying book version is in photos and text rather than the usual comic-book style. The term "blue orange" is a moderately popular image among the French, and was originally inspired by Paul Éluard's strange quote "Earth is blue like an orange" as a reference to the colour of the fruit when it rots. Plot Professor Calculus on (black-and-white) TV broadcasts an appeal to help end world hunger. He receives many letters and parcels, and among them is a blue orange, which can grow in desert conditions (and glows in the dark) from Professor Zalamea, but no letter of explanation. That night, two thieves break into Marlinspike Hall and steal the blue orange. With no other choice, Calculus, with Tintin, the Captain, and Snowy, go to Valencia (filmed in Burjassot, in Simat de la Valldigna at the Monastery of Santa María de la Valldigna, Gandia and Xàtiva). Arriving, they find he is not present at his hacienda and are met by his cousin. Professor Calculus is kidnapped to help Zalamea perfect the blue oranges, which with neutron bombardment can mature in just five days, but they taste bitter and salty, making them inedible. Tintin befriends a local boy, who takes him to his gang hideout and he finds out that a boy who was to take the parcel to the post office for Zalamea was attacked by a man with a blue dragon tattoo on his hand. Thomson and Thompson turn up from Interpol, investigating Zalamea's disappearance, and have an unfortunate incident with a bull. The local boys find Fernando, the man with the tattoo, and Tintin and the Captain go to his hotel. Tintin picks the lock and gets into his room, and when Fernando returns, overhears him talking on a radio set to his chief, about a rendez-vous. Tintin and the Captain follow Fernando, but are knocked unconscious and taken away. Thomson and Thompson check into a hotel, but are tricked by the villains, who use doubles to coax them from their rooms. Tintin and the Captain revive and find themselves in a grain silo, but are