The word "Croulant" (= "old Fogey,crumbly )was very trendy in the early sixties at the dawn of the yeah yeah era ;the youth loved Elvis (the godfather presents her goddaughter and her brother with an Elvis LP and you can notice an Elvis poster on the bedroom wall.This is a very bourgeois house ,with a TV set -not frequent in France in 1961- and valuable furniture .
In this desirable mansion ,daddy ,a widower,50,wants to marry again with a twenty-year old brunette;of course his two children disagree and they tell him so :as he does not want to hear about it,they decide to show how ludicrous he is to marry a girl who could be his daughter;so they both pretend they are in love with daddy's best friend (his editor,47) and with a Roumanian woman (nearing 40);but,you would not believe it,they are caught out at their own game and they really fall in love.The desperate old man has got to do something about it,helped by an absolutely unbearable grandma named "Minouche" who has just met again her old beau .
The cast is the main reason why you would Watch this stodgy brew :Fernand Gravey had seen better days in the past,Jeanne Aubert was a chanteuse (she does sing in the movie ,so get your earplugs ready) who married an American millionaire ,Sophie Daumier became famous as Guy Bedos' s Partner (and wife) ,Nadia Gray was a beautiful actress who was never offered a truly great part.And Jacques Perrin ,who in those days ,used to work in Italy (a wise move ,considering the poor material he was given in his native country )before becoming famous with such works as "Z" and "Peau D'Ane" .His career ,as a Producer and as an actor,is still buoyant today.
Like this?try these....
"Patate" (Thomas ;1964)
"La Boum" (Pinoteau ;1981)
