Jo e il gazebo

This screwball comedy of the early seventies has everything you might expect of a Louis de Funès movie: over-the-top acting (no wonder Louis had cardiac problems later on...). It can be described in one sentence by Inspecteur Ducros (Bernard Blier): "Is this a train station?". In fact, people are coming from all places, run through the house, frantically doing something like putting up a garden gazebo, demonstrating a (non-working) fire-extinguisher, doing police investigations, having a matrimonial crisis, laughing like a mad dog (the maid), doing the real-estate business and so on.

Inludes appearances by Ferdie Mayne (Mister Grunder), the notorious Count von Krolock in Roman Polanski's 1967 Dracula spoof "The Fearless Vampire Killers".

"Jo" is definitely a movie for de Funès fans as much as for those who just love to watch a fast-paced thriller-comedy. It is a shame that this gem is not yet available on DVD or VHS tape, not even in France. Since MGM seems to hold the rights one might ask why so.

In this movie, we can see a de Funès a little more human than in some other parts (I have about 45 of his movies that I watch again and again). He is frightened, he worried about his wife's reputation, he shows his love for her in a (short) moving scene.

I read the other comments about this movie. there is something I am sure of: If you can't hear the real voice of de Funès, you miss half of the fun, if you don't understand French, you miss even more. It's not obvious for all actors, but for Louis de Funès, who was also a very good mime, his way of speaking (especially when he is dominated by someone in a situation he doesn't know what to do) is unique, un-dubbable.

In France, we can see Benny Hill dubbed, I had the occasion to see some episodes with his own voice and the real texts, in French, we lost a lot. It's the same with many comedians, and for de Funès most of all.

this is one of my all-time favourites. my love of louis de funés dates back to my childhood - i grew up with him bickering out of the tv set. of all his films, "jo" remains my favourite along with "l'aile et la cuisse". both are equally excellent in terms of situation comedy, dialogue and plot. they're even good in the german overdub, for heaven's sake!

the story of "jo" revolves around a playwright (of whodunnits) who has to hide a corpse from his wife and everyone else. in trying to keep his secret, he undergoes the funniest mishaps. go for "jo"!

p.s.: excellent supporting cast, too!

This movie is adapted from a play and is the kind of high paced funny movies where one joke follows the next one. The text is excellent which is rare in comedies which tend to be vulgar. None there. The cast, as far as I am concerned Louis de Funes is in great shape but he is surrounded by even better comedians like Bernard Blier which I really enjoy so much in almost all his movies. The soundtrack reaches levels that would have made it good enough for a James Bond movie.

This movie is full of intelligence and highlights the quality of those great comedies, made in France, that were so common in those days.

I really laughed when I saw it in one Montreal's theatre when it came out and I still laughed as much recently watching it again.

Now, lets hope that this movie gets a DVD release soon.

Jo might not be the funniest movie with Louis de Funès but I still enjoy it as much as the first time I watched it. To me there are no bad movies starring Louis de Funès. He's by far the best comedian France as ever had, the man with 40 different facial expressions per minute, always very energetic and a delight to watch. Jo has flaws like most French comedies from the seventies but the cast makes this movie enjoyable to watch. Louis de Funès, Claude Gensac, Bernard Blier and Michel Galabru, all comedians that everybody liked, are almost a guarantee for a funny movie. Claude Gensac played again the wife of Louis de Funès, she would do that ten times in her career, a thing we were all familiar with after awhile. Her collaboration with Louis de Funès always worked. Louis de Funès can make any movie good as his energy, screen presence and great sense of humor are always very enjoyable to watch. The story in Jo isn't perfect, that's obvious, but even those minor faults can't bring the quality of this movie down. When I watch a movie like this one I just want to watch more movies starring Louis de Funès, he has that kind of charisma you never get enough of.