Les brigades du Tigre

The charm of this series comes from the earl 20th century atmosphere. It's quite a change when you're used to those contemporary series in big cities with the usual sets for most scenes. In paved streets, with all those men wearing a mustache and a hat or a cap, cars are not a commonplace nuisance but simply curiosities.

The screenplays focus on true cases by the time the French police were beginning to have cars - the first Mobile Squad aka the Tiger Brigades as Clemenceau, Home Secretary by then, was named "The Tiger" for being untractable on any political issue. The prolog/epilogue voice-over helps to settle this atmosphere and the three officers easily become congenial while practicing French boxing (savate) in white underwear (look like Alex and some gentle droogs), tailing a suspect or being summoned to their irritated patron's office.

It's always a pleasure to hear Pierre Maguelon with his singing Provence accent call his superior "Valentin!" and to watch a slow-paced car chase after the engines have been cranked. To put it in a nutshell, an original idea with charming old-fashioned images and some humor.