The Wild Oat (1953)
"Le boulanger de Valorgue" (original title)

A small village is torn apart by a quarrel between the baker and the italian grocery tenant, mother of a pregnant young girl. She accuses the baker's son, doing his military service in ... See full summary »

Director:

Henri Verneuil

Writers:

Yves Favier (dialogue), Yves Favier (screenplay),

Stars:

Fernandel, Madeleine Sylvain, Georges Chamarat

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fernandel	...	Félicien Hébrard - le boulanger
Madeleine Sylvain	...	Madame Hébrard - sa femme
Georges Chamarat	...	M. Aussel
Pierrette Bruno	...	Françoise Zanetti
Francis Linel	...	Justin Hébrard
Georges Briquet
Edmond Ardisson	...	Le facteur (as Ardisson)
Henri Arius	...	Le Gendarme
Mag-Avril	...	La Vieille Fille
José Casa	...	Le garde-champêtre
Manuel Gary	...	Le Receveur du Car
René Génin	...	Le secrétaire de mairie
Antonin Berval	...	Courtecuisse
André Carnège	...	Le sous-préfet
Jean Mello	...	Le Gendarme (as Mello)

Storyline

A small village is torn apart by a quarrel between the baker and the italian grocery tenant, mother of a pregnant young girl. She accuses the baker's son, doing his military service in Algeria, to be the father of the would be child. Offended, the baker refuses to deliver bread to the villagers standing on the mother's side.

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Plot Keywords:

village | provence

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Taglines:

FORMIDABLE!!! When a baby comes into his life...before the wedding...It's a human, humorous, happy hit

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

27 February 1953 (France)

Also Known As:

The Wild Oat

Filming Locations:

Franstudio, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cite-Films-Fides, Peg Produzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Le Fils du Boulanger

In 1938,Marcel Pagnol released "La Femme Du Boulanger": a baker did not want to make bread anymore because his wife had left home to live her life with a handsome shepherd.In fact ,Verneuil's "Le Boulanger de Valorgue" is a cross between "baker's wife" (one of Orson Welles' favorites ,they say) and its follow-up "la Fille du Puisatier" where a young girl was pregnant by a boy forced to go to war (WW2).There's nothing really new under the sun of Provence and I do not share the precedent user's views: it's not necessarily more watchable than Pagnol's works because there's not here a single scene that can equal Raimu blaming his (female) cat La Pomponnette.

That said "le Boulanger de Valorgue" is certainly pleasant enough with its depiction of a Provençal village ,its mayor,its spinster and its gendarmes and a birth (naturally an unwed girl) which sets the whole community at loggerheads.The story has become,like Pagnol's ,thoroughly obsolete nowadays ,but it's still much fun to watch Fernandel.