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La folle mission

Original title: You Must Be Joking!
  • 1965
  • Approved
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
410
YOUR RATING
La folle mission (1965)
Comedy

A motley group of soldiers are set loose in swinging London in an initiative test to collect a selection of esoteric items.A motley group of soldiers are set loose in swinging London in an initiative test to collect a selection of esoteric items.A motley group of soldiers are set loose in swinging London in an initiative test to collect a selection of esoteric items.

  • Director
    • Michael Winner
  • Writers
    • Alan Hackney
    • Michael Winner
    • Jan Read
  • Stars
    • Michael Callan
    • Lionel Jeffries
    • Denholm Elliott
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    410
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Michael Winner
    • Writers
      • Alan Hackney
      • Michael Winner
      • Jan Read
    • Stars
      • Michael Callan
      • Lionel Jeffries
      • Denholm Elliott
    • 24User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos7

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    Top cast86

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    Michael Callan
    Michael Callan
    • Lieutenant Tim Morton
    Lionel Jeffries
    Lionel Jeffries
    • Sergeant-Major McGregor
    Denholm Elliott
    Denholm Elliott
    • Captain Tabasco
    Wilfrid Hyde-White
    Wilfrid Hyde-White
    • General Lockwood
    • (as Wilfrid Hyde White)
    Bernard Cribbins
    Bernard Cribbins
    • Sergeant Clegg
    James Robertson Justice
    James Robertson Justice
    • Librarian
    Leslie Phillips
    Leslie Phillips
    • Young Husband
    Gabriella Licudi
    Gabriella Licudi
    • Annabelle Nash
    Patricia Viterbo
    • Sylvie Tarnet
    Terry-Thomas
    Terry-Thomas
    • Major Foskett
    Lee Montague
    Lee Montague
    • Staff Sergeant Mansfield
    Irene Handl
    Irene Handl
    • Elderly Woman
    Richard Wattis
    Richard Wattis
    • Parkins
    Miles Malleson
    Miles Malleson
    • Salesman
    Gwendolyn Watts
    • Young Wife
    Clive Dunn
    Clive Dunn
    • Television studio Doorman
    Tracy Reed
    Tracy Reed
    • Poppy Pennington
    James Villiers
    James Villiers
    • Bill Simpson
    • Director
      • Michael Winner
    • Writers
      • Alan Hackney
      • Michael Winner
      • Jan Read
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews24

    5.9410
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    Featured reviews

    5loza-1

    It's silly, and it makes me laugh

    Something of a precursor of the swinging sixties "comedy." It still has the makings of the 1940s 1959s British comedies, but some of the silliness of the later 1960s comedy films is starting to creep in.

    The performance of the film is probably Lionel Jeffries as the caricature of a Scotsman. (Perhaps even more interesting is not so much his performance as the reactions of the other scavengers to his character. In one scene he asked someone on the set to give him something Gaelic to say. Someone duly did. Lionel Jeffries was not to know that it meant: "Kiss my ass." But it went unnoticed...until the film was shown in Ireland! All in all, it's great fun.

    One should not take it too seriously.
    9richardchatten

    Miles Malleson's Last Film

    Quite a lot of old movies don't live up to their animated credits. Not this one, even though they were the work of Bob Godfrey.

    In 1968 Andrew Sarris rated Winner higher - among The 'Oddities, One-Shots and Newcomers' - in 'American Cinema' than Stanley Kramer ('Miscellany'). At the time Sarris seemed not to have seen (and probably never bothered to catch up with) this low budget but very funny imitation of 'It's a Mad Mad Mad World' from a mildly satirical script by the author of 'I'm All Right Jack'. It was also Michael Winner's last film in black & white, in those very far off days when even he couldn't help making a decent film.

    Energetically shot entirely on location (94 in all) in and around a very wintry looking London and then frenziedly cut together (NERD NOTE: Winner's used of hard-edged wipes probably seemed very 'nouvelle vague' at the time but were actually a common feature of quota quickies thirty years earlier). It depicts a world in which audiences would have known the significance of plaster flying ducks and Trechikoff's 'Green Woman', now as impossible to revisit as the planet Jupiter itself. Shot by '2001's director of photography and featuring a Who's Who of British supporting actors past and future, most of them on good form, with Bernard Cribbins the victim of a hilarious running gag; English actor Lionel Jeffries playing a mad Scotsman would however probably offend today's politically correct sensibilities.

    (In smaller parts, James Robertson Justice looks incongruous as a supercilious librarian who makes no attempt to keep his voice down; while the ubiquitous Marianne Stone looks even more striking than usual forging signatures in a collar & tie.)
    4skoogs-3

    You've got to be kidding!

    This is one of those twerpy 'swinging 60's' films with cavalier photography, 'swinging' introductory and background music, to get us all in a 'fab' mood to insure us that the everything you are about to endure is not to be taken seriously. It's all the fault of the Beatles wonderful 'A Hard Days Night' that all the others are trying to catch up. However, this film couldn't catch a George Formby film on a bad day. And why-oh-why did it have to have the obligatory American actor in the lead role? To me this lowers the tone completely as we have many, many British actors who would be more than willing to make a complete fool of themselves.
    10andyrobert

    More Cameos than "Around the World in 80 Days"

    I saw this film at the cinema when it first came out and was not able to catch up with it again until I watched a recording that I had made of it this morning. It had been on Talking Pictures several weeks ago.

    Despite some of the other reviews that I have read, I found it to be a great film, with some good comic formulas - a sort of British answer to "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", with different twists and plot devices.

    If none of the film critics of the time found this film funny, I remember the cinema being "standing room only", with the audience rocking with laughter.

    Some of the actors in the film probably were not particularly well known in 1964, but by today's standards, it had nearly as many actors and actresses in cameo performances as "Around the World in 80 Days". I remember half- expecting Norman Vaughn to take out a box of chocolates and say: "Roses Grow on You!".

    The only thing that seemed to disappoint most of the audience - especially the girls - was where, in the end, the lead actor went off with the beautiful French singer, instead of his loyal English girlfriend. Maybe there was a reason for such an ending, which was probably misunderstood by cinema audiences at the time.

    Of course, the acting honors would have gone to Lionel Jeffries as the Royal Scots Guards Regimental Sergeant Major, dressed throughout the film in a regimental kilt, swapping his bearskin helmet for a mismatching cloth cap.

    It is debateable as to whether the British could make a film like this nowadays. With so many stars in cameo performances, the production would go way over budget; and the part where Graham Stark plays a drunken pilot of a charter aircraft would not be politically correct for today's audiences.

    On a sad note, it is a pity about Patricia Viterbo, who played the part of the beautiful French singer, Sylvie Tarnet. It was a shame for such lovely actress to be taken at such an early age. She would have had such a glittering career ahead of her.

    On a scale of 1 to 10, I wish I could give it 12, but 10 out of 10 will do for now.
    7vogun-17563

    It Reeks Of The 1960's And A Bygone Era

    The film begins with the superb opening credits by Bob Godfrey, and a Mona Lisa start which is not unlike (and predates) Terry Gilliam, and sets one up for a light hearted typical British affair. It frequently uses the streets of London as a backdrop and is filled with some marvellous cameo roles by numerous character actors. They seem to be all here.

    There are quite a few memorable roles but accolades go to Terry Thomas, Lionel Jeffries (that's a first for me), and Denholm Elliot glides through his performance with aplomb. Of course the plot is ridiculous, and the film is not a gem, but I was delighted to catch this film. I even laughed during the film. There's a little bit of 60's saucyness, pop references (The Cavemen), sending up of the upper classes, the obligatory (largely unknown) Amercan actor and cuts that are pure 1960's.

    It's not a Carry On film, it's much better, and if you like black & white British 1960's movies and the (now lost) actors from then, you will not be disappointed.

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Oscar-winning actor Helen Mirren lambasted director Michael Winner in a TV interview for allegedly treating her "like a piece of meat" during a casting session for this film in 1964. Recalling the encounter, she said that he ordered her to turn around and flaunt her body for him. "I was mortified and incredibly angry. I thought it was insulting and sexist, and I don't think any actress should be treated like that, like a piece of meat, at all. I was so angry. I still am." Winner has defended his actions, saying: "I did indeed ask her to stand up. I don't remember asking her to turn around but if I did, I wasn't being serious. I can see it now. She was wearing a peasant blouse and a skirt in the photographs, with enormous bosoms which were sagging a bit even though she was young."
    • Goofs
      When the famous Lutine bell is stolen, the officers at HQ describe it as weighing about a hundred pounds, and difficult, but not impossible, for a man to move around. Yet in the scene at the finish line, there's a brief shot of Poppy Pennington (Tracy Reed), herself probably not much more than that weight, scooping it up effortlessly in the scramble.
    • Quotes

      Sergeant Clegg: Dig? Me? I'm a married man!

    • Connections
      References Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï (1957)
    • Soundtracks
      I'm With You
      Music by Buddy Bregman

      Lyrics by Hal Shaper

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • August 20, 1965 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • You Must Be Joking!
    • Filming locations
      • Carshalton Ponds, Surrey, England, UK(From leaving the library until the lady driver knocks people off of their bikes)
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures Corporation
      • Charles H. Schneer Productions
      • Ameran Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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