L'auvergnat et l'autobus

The eponymous Auvergnat inherits a fortune and travels to Strasbourg to collect it. His initial adventures show that he is shrewd but totally out of touch with modern city life. He takes the number 9 bus to Kehl, the little German city just across the River Rhine, to meet Lisbeth, the young woman he played with when they were children. She seems willing to marry him for his money.

When he spends most of his fortune on buying the bus from the ticket officer, some of the ensuing complications are easily predictable. But most are not. Via the notary who handled the inheritance, the Auvergnat gets into contact with two local businessmen who he infects with the bus-buying craze. And that's about as much as I should reveal about the plot.

The mad intricacy of the plot and a cringe factor that is out of this world are both the film's strength and its weakness. I am not sure I would want to watch this film again if my French was good enough to have understood all the details the first time round.

The film takes place in Strasbourg in winter and includes some scenic views of the city in the 1960s, though not half enough for my taste. I don't know what it is, but despite being contemporary with Hibernatus (1969) and in color, this film feels at least as old-fashioned to me as Le Petit Monde de don Camillo (1952). (Though of course not as good. That would be a very high bar.) This may be intentional, as it fits the theme.

The protagonist is played by Fernand Raynaud. Unfortunately it was his last film, as he died in a car accident.

Many of the other faces are very familiar. For example, the ticket officer is better known as one of the gendarmes of Saint-Tropez; their boss appears here as a policeman who objects to being called a gendarme.

I have always enjoyed watching this film. It is not a cinematographic work of art but the story enthralled me. It has recently been issued on DVD with a beautifully restored image quality. I am not old enough to remember Fernand Raynaud and know little about him but he is the driving force in this film, together with Julien Guiomar, one of the French actors whom I adore ! The story basically is one about a person from the Auvergne region of central France ( auvergnats are considered as being very money-conscious, like the Scots ) who learns he has inherited a vast sum of money and has to go to Strasbourg, in North Eastern France, to collect the money. He arrives in Strasbourg rather like a country bumpkin, collects his money and becomes fascinated by the buses there and decides to invest his newly found inheritance in one of the buses ! The rest is history ! This film exudes a sort of "joie-de-vivre" which is absent from today's films. Stasbourg is extremely well filmed in a crisp winter atmosphere and there are also forays across the border to Kehl in Germany. Whether you like the film depends on whether you like the actors ( which I do ) and I enjoyed seeing both Pierre Tornade and Michel Galabru ( another adorable actor ) in minor rôles. Poor old Michel Galabru has to play the policeman again, just as he had to do in "Les Sous-doués". Or should it be the other way round ? Next time I visit Strasbourg, I will be sure to take the Number 9 bus and count the passengers ( sorry, you'll have to have seen the film to understand that one !! ). If you've never seen Strasbourg, then watch this film, it'll give you a pretty good picture of the place !!!