Le gendarme à New York

I started rewatching all the "Gendarme" movies, all classics from my youth, when you didn't have much movies to chose from. Movies starring Louis de Funès were a guarantee for success, although this one wasn't that good to be honest. The plot is sometimes a bit unconvincing. But if you like the mimics from Louis de Funès it's worth a watch. Michel Galabru is always good to watch as well. Le Gendarme à New York is just one of the weaker movies in this series. There are a couple singing scenes, one as an hommage to West Side Story, and another with his daughter singing, to me both of those scens just don't fit in the movie. This movie is from 1965 and it didn't age that well, at least not like the first movie.

The gendarme-series are all my favourites. This story is taking place in New York where there's is hold an international police-conference. Cruchot is searching for his daughter, who is matched up by a tabloidreporter with an Italian policeman. Hilarious are the chases in the cab and at a building construction. A tribute to the Westside story is the scene at the playground, where Cruchot gets involved with some streetgangs. Funes is as always the eyecatcher, but his daughter played by the lovely Genieviève Grad is also very funny. A typical European sixties comedy, with some Hollywood elements. 4 out of 5.

THE TROOPS IN NEW YORK is a comedy film, which is dovetailed between a petty bourgeois problem, charming crime and satirical idiocy. This is the first sequel of sympathetic gendarmes from Saint-Tropez.

The gendarmes of St. Tropez are invited to New York City to a law enforcement conference. They are supposed to travel alone without spouses or children. The gendarmes are seriously preparing for the conference and the challenges that await them there. However, Cruchot's daughter Nicole wants to go to New York as it may be her only chance. He forbids her to go because disobeying an order may hurt his career. Nicole is a rebellious beauty who does not listen his father just yet .... therefore an adventure in New York can begin...

An abundance of a cheap humor is seasoned with parodic scenes, which should guarantee a good time. However, I think that, hilarious problems with the language barrier, a rebellious daughter and a rivalry with an opposing camp are not sufficient to demonstrate the petty-bourgeois confusion in a big city. Simply, it lacks the charm of the gendarme, which is closely associated with the scenery of Saint-Tropez. Extremely comic plots can not reach a culmination.

Louis de Funès as Ludovic Cruchot is again consistent with his energetic performances. Michel Galabru as warrant officer Jérôme Gerber gets more space next to Cruchot, and still, he is subordinate in comic pursuit of the rebellious Nicole. Geneviève Grad as Nicole Cruchot is witty beauty, who still can not cope with hilarious appearances of her patriarchal father. Other characters are quite closed. That's wrong.

It's been a year since we last saw Cruchot (Louis de Funes) and his merry men. That makes it 1965, and the policemen of St. Tropez has been chosen to represent France in a Police Congress in New York.

Cruchot's daughter Nicole (Geneviève Grad) wants to see the USA, but her father will not allow her to join them. The young woman is determined though, and sneaks aboard the ferry. Trying not to let her father find out, she hides from him and without a cabin she sleeps on the deck.

There's a lot of action in this film, more than in the first, both on the ferry and after they have arrived in New York. The two most memorable scenes are first a quite clever little take on "West Side Story" and a baseball fight, that shows that Cruchot has thunder in his bat.

Also worth mentioning is a call back to the first film, where a nun repeats her part, this time in a car in New York!

Nicole finds a room at YWCA, where they don't want the presence of Cruchot.

All in all worth seeing, probably most for the viewers that were born around the time of the making of the film.

This second sequel deals about the Sergeant Marechal Ludovic Cruchot(Louis De Funes),Lieutenant chief adjutant Jerome(Michael Galabru) and Marichal remaining(Jean Lefevre,Grosso,Modo,Christian Marin)are appointed for an International Congress of Gendarmerie in N.Y. They aboard a cruise and his festive daughter Nicole(Genevieve Grad) as stowaway. Nicole has a little too much at the Big Apple and the Gendarmes suffer a shaky ground.There she knows an Italian Carabinieri and a journalist(Alan Scott).

One of the best of Ludovic Cruchot series packs simple humor, slapdash,rip-roaring and lots of fun. Louis De Funes , as always steals the show, he stooges, dances, makes acrobatics and pulls faces and grimaces.Marvelous Genieveve Grad as feisty and likable daughter.The highlights are a brilliant and frenetic choreography about a dancing between Jets and Sharks bands, similarly to West Side Story and Cruchot in middle of the gangs; plus Ludovic playing baseball as pitcher and catcher; besides appears the customary nun driving in N.Y. Known soundtrack leitmotif by Raymond Lefevre used as musical background when the Gendarmes are parading along the city and habitual final march in Saint Tropez. The motion picture is lively filmed by series' director , Jean Girault and based on the characters created by Richard Balducci. It's followed by various sequels: Gendarme get married, Gendarme in balade, Gendarmes and the creatures of outer space and Gendarme and the Gendarmettes. If you like Funes' crazy acting, you'll enjoy this one because he 's overacting with amount mimic gesticulation. The movie is a Funes recital, it's a farce by the master comic to be liked for his fans.