La grande vadrouille

And the most popular. Often showed on TV, she has been seen in the cinema by 17 million viewers, absolute record in my country. Bourvil and de Funes, two of the most popular comic actors (dead in 1977 and 1983), rival of good words, jokes and poetics. It was one of the first times that the nazis were turned about ridiculous guignols in the cinema (after "papy fait de la Résistance").

If you love this film, see "le Corniaud".

The setting: a British bomber is shot down (due to some navigational errors) above Paris. The crew get separated, and each of them needs the help of a few French people to escape from the occupied city, and eventually to England. Of course, evil Germans persecute them throughout the movie...

All of this is a backdrop to a wonderful comedy. It could be compared with Mel Brooks' "To be or not to be", and I believe it comes out the superior of the two. Easily the best Louis de Funes movie ever - and so, perhaps, also the best French comedy ever...

Starring the famous Bourvil/Louis de Funes tandem it is a highly entertaining caper set in WWII German-occupied France, where these 2 unlikely heroes reluctantly must help some downed British airmen to escape.

A perennial favourite on French TV during the Christmas or Easter holidays it is one of those rare movies you can watch over and over again without getting tired of it. It runs more than two hours but moves along at an incredible pace. Movie relies bigtime on the clash of character between de Funes as the self-important musical director of the Opéra de Paris and Bourvil as the simple housepainter. But also the hilarious script, some spectacular setpieces (including a spielbergesque chase by German sidecars) and a surprising finale all add up to making `Vadrouille' one of the best and most entertaining French movies ever.

Made on a lavish budget by Gerard Oury who would go on to make some other highly succesfull comedies, mostly starring big French stars as de Funes and Bourvil, but also Jean-Paul Belmondo, Pierre Richard and Christian Clavier. Incidentally his next venture was to be the equally succesfull `The Brain', starring none other than David Niven (!) and Eli Wallach, backed up by Bourvil and Belmondo. Bourvil and de Funes should be reunited again by Oury in `La folie des Grandeurs' but then sadly Bourvil passed away. He was replaced by none other than Yves Montand.

Up to that time movies made in France took war rather seriously, but `La grande vadrouille' sparked of an endless string of farces set in WWII which almost invariably depicted the French as very clever and cunning, always outwitting the Germans in the end. Even the recent (2002) `Laissez-Passer' from much-acclaimed director Bertrand Tavernier is based on this premiss.

If you like this definitely try to see `Le Corniaud', the first de Funes/Bourvil caper by Oury or why not `Mais ou est donc passé la 7ieme compagnie ?' as a prime example of the smart French vs not-so-smart German theme.

Why is this movie so funny? And why is it universally judged to be so by people who don't understand French culture? I have asked myself this question while watching it for the Nth time and while asking myself why most Hollywood 'comedies' made today are not funny at all. I believe that the answer is that the basis of all comedy is to make fun of someone. Here, fun is made of sexual stereotypes, of the British, of the French and, most of all, of the Germans, Nazis in this case. Hollywood has become so politically-correct that it now only dares make fun of a WASP male in a business suit, and of no one else. Take the case of 'The Birdcage', a remake of the French comedy 'La cage aux folles' made some 20 years earlier. Being bilingual, I can testify that the original version is immensely more funny than the Hollywood remake. That is because the Hollywood bean-counters, who like to pass themselves off as artistic decision-makers, toned down most of the fun that had been made of homosexuals in the original movie. Ask Shakespeare or Moliere: the play or movie will be funny only if it pokes cruel fun at someone, provided it is not at you. Sorry for the politically-incorrect opinion.

This film has the remarkable property that there aren't any boring pieces in it. It just brings you more than 2 hours of top-comedy, together with a fine scenario. The magical trio Louis de Funès, Bourvil and Gérard Oury make this film so unique. If you like this one, be sure to have seen Le Corniaud.