Adhémar ou le jouet de la fatalité

This is the only film directed by Fernandel,based on an idea by Sacha Guitry.

An association wants to help ugly people,although their means are downright questionable: gathering them all in an immense property where they will live far from the laughing crowds.Some "customers" are already knocking on the office door ,for they are sick and tired of hearing other people laugh at them:they want a place in the so-called Shangri -La .Enter Adhémar (Fernandel) who registers the same desire.But the members are not convinced and the "candidate " begins to tell the story of his life.

Then begins a long flashback which seems more like a series of sketches ,it's a screenplay that lacks consistency.Every time Ahémar fails,a friend from his army days(Andrex) comes to the rescue and finds him a new job.The best moments are to be found in the first part: the funeral,and mainly the "tragedy":Adhémar becomes a prompter in a theater and it's much fun to watch him and the actors parodying Racine and particularly "Andromaque" (it's a spoof on the first scene when Oreste meets again his old friend Pylade).

But all in all ,it's a false good idea.It's not pleasant to be "ugly" ,and the desirable mansion where those people are to live makes one think of a luxury concentration camp.The subject had to be treated with care ,and it's finally a disappointment.