Fernand cow-boy

Your disbelief needs to be suspended just as firmly if you are to get anything out of this 1956 comedy which stars stand up comic Fernand Raynaud in his adventures in Wild West, obviously filmed in French country .

It features :

• A hotel complete with saloon, Fernand's Inheritance ;a saloon where you do not drink orange-flower water but whiskey,where you do not play "Belote" but poker.

-Annie Du Far West (Annie get your gun) in the flesh.Here cast as the damsel in distress.

-An Indian "Careful Beaver " who helps the outlaws with their dirty deeds provided he gets 10% from the loot and whose way of torturing palefaces recall those in "lives of a Bengal Lancer" .

-A sheriff who stammers ,played by Noel Roquevert, who almost steals the show from the star.

-A horse "as gentle as a sheep ".A nice cowboy outfit for Fernand.

Who could ask for more?

A film directed by the same Guy Lefranc who made several delightful films in the spirit of James Bond, before the Bond series. Good French craftsman of the 7th art, specialized in the comedy-policier genre, Lefranc had worked before with Eddie Constantine in "Keep Talking, Baby" (1961) Cause toujours, mon lapin (original title) and Laissez tirer les tireurs 1964. Later he would continue in the same note with Gérard Barray in movies like "Sale temps pour les mouches" and "Beru and these Women" (1968) Beru et ces dames (original title). All those are very good, thanks also to the unique personal charm of Eddie Constantine and Gérard Barray (died this year, 2024, at the age of 92). The same cannot be said about this "Fernand cowboy" made in 1956 with Fernand Raynaud, a washed-up and not at all comical actor. The whole film he makes the same grimace, without causing you even a smile. Guy Lefranc worked hard, it is visible, in a virgin genre for the French cinema, but the effect is zero. Something good though about the movie? Yes, Nadine Tallier as Annie is super sweet. And two actors which I have seen in many other French films, Jess Hahn and Noël Roquevert (the French version of the American Ben Turpin), they play their best roles here. 3 stars for these last three actors.