Les carnets du Major Thompson

Preston Sturges' final film "The Diary of Major Thompson" or as it's also known, "The French, they are a funny race" may be the strangest, least likely film he ever made hence it's cult status. The critics hated it, it was a flop and proved to be the nail in Sturges' coffin but while it may not be a masterpiece like "The Lady Eve"or "Sullivan's Travels" or "The Palm Beach Story" it's not the disaster many claim it to be. It's consistently amusing and often laugh-out-loud funny and Jack Buchanan is perfect as Major Thompson, the punctilious Englishman living in Paris and married to none other than Martine Carol, (dire). We should be grateful, therefore, that Sturges at least gave Buchanan a part worthy of him. Now what we need is for this to get the DVD release it deserves.

Preston Sturges' relationship with 20th Century Fox came to an end after both of his films underperformed, and Sturges was left trying to find work where he could, going from one script to another theatrical production with no success until he found French financiers for another film. Based on a novel by Pierre Daninos, The French, They are a Funny Race is a curious series of comic vignettes without anything close to a story to connect it all together. It's more of a survey of one prim Englishman's life in France and his attempts to make entertaining observations about the clash of cultures that he represents in the foreign country. It rises and falls entirely on its comedy, and the comedy is so uneven that the movie itself just gets dull as it plays out.

The Englishman is Major Thompson (Jack Buchanan) who is married to the French woman Martine (Martine Carol) and has a son. Most of Thompson's observations, though, revolve around his friend M. Taupin (Noel-Noel). The first major event is when Thompson asks Taupin about the catacombs which Taupin describes in grand but vague terms before he can't remember where they actually are. It's one of the funniest moments of the film when Taupin gets directions from a Chinese tourist with a map before coming back to the table in the café to act like he knew the whole time.

An interesting thing about the film is that it was filmed twice, once for French and once for English (it's the latest example of it I've seen the practice like on Hitchcock's Murder!, probably immediately preceding the general acceptance of subtitling). It also creates this question about the content of the film itself. The reported runtime of the film is one hour and forty-five minutes, but the English version (at least the one I've found, it's hard to track down) is only 80 minutes long. There are long sections in this film where Thompson narrates what happens on screen, and it amounts to little more than just description of what we see. Trying to read lips, it looks like they're just speaking French, so I wonder if there was a conscious effort to use voiceover to limit how much they had to shoot twice. The only thing that gives me pause in this is that there's a sequence with a joke that looks like it only works if the voiceover is present.

Thompson and Taupin go to a restaurant, and the point is Thompson explaining how the French hold themselves in the setting. There's a moment where Taupin asks about the state of the oysters and the restauranteur goes through three separate reactions, all narrated by Thompson. It's a funny moment, but it doesn't work without the narration meaning that it seems like it was filmed that way. If that's the case, why is this the only joke that actually takes advantage of that distance between the narrator and the action viewed. It's just more evidence that Sturges' had lost his edge.

The other major focus is mainly a flashback to how Thompson and Martine got together, and it has its moments. The contrast of their meeting on the field of a hunt and their first days of marriage is amusing. There's a running discussion about which view of history, especially around figures like Napoleon, their son should be raised with (Napoleon as monster or national hero). It's never hilarious, but it's slightly amusing to watch the restrained Brit explain to his over-emotional French wife the differences.

My main problem ends up being the film's ending. It doesn't really have an ending. There's stuff about Thompson and Martine having a fight that gets resolved somehow (recalling how things worked out in Unfaithfully Yours), but the story was never about the degradation of their relationship. There was no story. We did see the change from the early days to them arguing about education, but it was so broken up with other, disconnected vignettes of Thompson being witty at Taupin's expense that it shattered any sense of momentum within the little narrative playing out, which was playing out in non-linear fashion for some reason.

So, it's mostly a drag. There are funny bits (Taupin figuring out the variety of protective screens at a civil service office is visual comedy worthy of Harold Lloyd), but it's all disconnected and haphazardly delivered. This is probably Sturges' low point as a filmmaker, and it's how he went out. It took him several years to find funding for this misfire, and then he died less than four years later without getting funding for anything else.

That's sad, and the final film of a wonderful comedic talent ends up just unfunny and unfocused.

"Les Carnets du Major Thompson" was based on a novel by Pierre Daninos which was a best-seller in France in the early 1950s. The title literally translates as "Major Thompson's Medals", but a more appropriate translation would be "Major Thompson's Trophies", with "trophies" representing a sexual double-entendre. The novel depicts the adventures of a rather befuddled Englishman living in France, trying to adapt to French ways and falling in love with a Frenchwoman. The Englishman (Major Thompson) is the butt of all the humour, which is why this novel was so popular in France: although set in France, it makes fun of Englishmen!

The film version of "Major Thompson" was directed by Preston Sturges, after he'd rendered himself unemployable in Hollywood and was living in exile. Sturges spoke French fluently, having lived in Paris during his childhood. (Believe it or not, Preston Sturges's mother was the artist who created and gave to Isidora Duncan the long hand-painted scarf which caused Duncan's legendary death by strangulation!) But Sturges's francophilia is the only plus-factor in this terrible movie. His talent was long gone by this time, and so was his energy. The plot of "Major Thompson" is extremely episodic (like its source novel), and the film lurches from one weak scene to another. The fade-out gag is painfully unfunny, like the rest of the film.

Major Thompson is played by Jack Buchanan, a Scotsman who fitted the American conception of "English"-ness much more neatly than most genuine Englishmen did. Buchanan gave excellent performances in several previous films, but he was dying of cancer when he went to France to film "Major Thompson", and it shows. He's a dead man walking.

The only scene in this film which is even vaguely funny occurs when Thompson and his French equestrienne paramour go riding. Their horses won't stay put in front of the cameras, and keep wandering off with their riders brought unwillingly along. Buchanan looks genuinely perplexed as his horse keeps carrying him away from the camera. This scene works so well (in contrast to the rest of the movie) that I don't believe it was planned: I think that the horses were genuinely ill-trained, and Sturges had the good sense to let the horses "ad lib" and steal the scene.

Noél-Noél, a French comedian with a rather comic face (whom I've never found funny otherwise) does a brief cameo, drinking Byrrh in a sidewalk cafe. He doesn't do anything funny here, apart from looking straight into the camera ... which in his case is good for one quick laugh.

I'll rate "Les Carnets du Major Thompson" zero points. I wanted so much to like this movie, because I'm a fan of Preston Sturges and a fan of Jack Buchanan: this was their only collaboration, and the last film for both. But it's sad and unfunny, and I can't recommend it on any level

This anecdotal comedy is based on a book, and feels like it-the kind of mild humor book popular back then, which offered mildly humorous variations on a subject (in this case, foreigners' perspectives on the French). In fact the source book was a collection of newspaper humor columns by a French writer pretending to be a expatriate Englishman, Major Marmaduke Thompson, played here by Jack Buchanan. He offers his arch perspective on the "funny" ways of his French wife ("Lola Montes'" Martine Carol), acquaintances, and society in general. Noel-Noel plays a purportedly typical Frenchman to illustrate these ideas.

Surprisingly, this movie was apparently a considerable success in France (it was shot in both English and French), though it didn't do well elsewhere, and is mostly (if somewhat unfairly) remembered now as Preston Sturges' final flop. Perhaps the French version made the English more the butt of the joke. In the English-language version, the fun had at the expense of both nationalities is so mild the film just doesn't develop much of a notable viewpoint, let alone comic energy or narrative momentum. It's not dire (I'd say Sturges' prior flop "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend" is more of an overt misfire, because it tries so hard and falls flat), but it's just tepidly amusing.

Though Sturges was well-traveled and fluent in French, this theme just doesn't bring out the boisterous self-confidence seen in nearly all his American films. His U.S. stock company is sorely missed; though everyone here is competent, they often seem to be working in different idioms, from boulevard comedy to farce to crude slapstick.

Admittedly, in this period comedies about culture clash tended to paint those cultures in unimaginatively stereotypical terms, something that "Funny Race" doesn't transcend. And it's not entirely fair to judge this film on the basis of an 80-minute, TV-print-looking cut of the English version. (For all I know, that may have been the length at which it was released overseas-in France, it was 105 minutes.) But on the evidence, this isn't an underrated Sturges (like "Sin of Harold Diddlebock" aka "Mad Wednesday," which was also only available in inferior prints for many years), but one that merits its reputation as no disgrace but a disappointment nonetheless.

Preston Sturges', a fine director/writer whose career was too short, prime period (1940-1944) made for one of the best and most consistent golden years/prime periods for any director in my view. One where seven very good to masterpiece films in a row were made close to each other, in this case 'The Great McGinty', 'Christmas in July', 'The Lady Eve', 'Sullivan's Travels', 'The Palm Beach Story', 'The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'and 'Hail the Conquering Hero'. Even the films of his not made during this period were still watchable ('Unfaithfully Yours' actually being great) , though a few were disappointing by his standards.

'The Diary of Major Thompson' was his final film and while it is a watchable and semi-interesting one in its own way, it is like 'The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend' and 'The Great Moment' in that it is disappointing and quite sad by Sturges standards. The main reason to see it is if one is trying to see all of his films or as many as possible. Certainly don't think 'The Diary of Major Thompson' is that bad, it is not a disaster, but can see why it was/is one of the worst received Sturges films critically because too many areas fall well short.

Beginning with the good things, Jack Buchanan is remarkably well cast in the lead role in what was also his final film. It is very sad to see him at the end of his career in not the best physical shape due to illness (he sadly succumbed to spinal cancer not long after), but he has lost none of his debonair charm. Martine Carol also sparkles delectably. 'The Diary of Major Thompson' is a pleasing looking film, a warm nostalgia being evoked effectively. The music has the right amount of whimsy and fits well.

In terms of writing, this is a long way from prime Sturges to put it lightly, but there are amusing moments that do show some wit and sophistication that were not there in other lesser Sturges films (namely 'The Great Moment').

However, it did feel like Sturges was not interested in making the film and had lost his passion and energy in making and writing films, instead putting them into other things (such as restaurant running). The rest of the cast fail to make an impression, and they are not really to blame here. They are completely wasted by not only having very little to do but also anybody who has had the misfortune of watching the American dubbed version will despair at how disastrously crude the dubbing is.

Despite saying that there are amusing moments that do show wit and sophistication, they don't come consistently. Too much of the humour feels fatigued and contrived, some may not always find it tasteful, so there are glimpses of Sturges' comedic touch but more often than not it felt like the script was written by someone else. Did not mind that the story was episodic, which is not always a bad thing, did mind that it felt too much like a series of events cobbled together with very little energy in momentum or grace.

On the whole, a semi-failure by Sturges standards albeit an interesting and watchable one. 5/10 Bethany Cox