Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953) Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot (original title)

Director:

Jacques Tati

Writers:

Jacques Tati (dialogue)
Jacques Tati (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

16 June 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It's laugh-vacation time as Jacques Tati romps through the most gloriously mad lark ever to tickle the ribs of young and old alike!

Plot:

Monsieur Hulot comes to a beachside hotel for a vacation, where he accidentally (but good-naturedly) causes havoc.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Holiday | Vacation | Seaside | Bathing Resort

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jacques Tati	...	Monsieur Hulot
Louis Perrault	...	Fred
André Dubois	...	Commandant
Lucien Frégis	...	Hotel Proprietor (as Lucien Fregis)
René Lacourt	...	Strolling Man
Raymond Carl	...	Waiter
Nathalie Pascaud	...	Martine
Micheline Rolla	...	The Aunt (as Michèle Rolla)
Valentine Camax	...	Englishwoman
Suzy Willy	...	Commandant's Wife
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marguerite Gérard	...	Strolling Woman
Georges Adlin	...	South American (uncredited)
Michèle Brabo	...	Holidaymaker (uncredited)
Édouard Francomme	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Tati

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pierre Aubert		screenplay (uncredited)
Jacques Lagrange		screenplay (uncredited)
Henri Marquet		dialogue
Henri Marquet		screenplay
Henri Marquet		story
Jacques Tati		dialogue
Jacques Tati		screenplay
Jacques Tati		story

Produced by
Fred Orain	....	producer
Jacques Tati	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alain Romans

Cinematography by
Jacques Mercanton
Jean Mousselle

Film Editing by
Suzanne Baron		(uncredited)
Charles Bretoneiche		(uncredited)
Jacques Grassi		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Roger Briaucourt
Henri Schmitt

Set Decoration by
Henri Schmitt

Production Management
Fred Orain	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pierre Aubert	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Pierre Clauzel	....	property master
André Pierdel	....	property master

Sound Department
Jacques Carrère	....	sound recordist
Roger Cosson	....	sound
Guy Michel-Ange	....	sound editor

Visual Effects by
Trey Freeman	....	restoration artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Pierre Ancrenaz	....	assistant camera (as P. Ancrenaz)
André Villard	....	assistant camera (as A. Villard)
Le Chevallier	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
André Marquette	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Fabien D. Tordjmann	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
André Villard	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Raymond Dechanseau	....	synchronization (uncredited)

Other crew
Sylvette Baudrot	....	script girl
Bernard Maurice	....	general administrator
Philip Schwob	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Discina Film
• Cady Films
• Specta Films

Distributors

• Discifilm (1953) (France) (theatrical)
• GBD International (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Nino Mollesena Del Monaco (1957) (worldwide) (VHS) (revised version)
• Republic-Filmi (1955) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Valio-Filmi (1977) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Future Film (2003) (Finland) (theatrical) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1985) (1987) (Finland) (TV)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2003) (UK) (theatrical) (b&w remastered)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Better Television Distribution (2006) (worldwide) (TV)
• Eye Film Instituut (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Iris Film (1956) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Janus Films (196?) (USA) (theatrical)
• Globo Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot" - France (original title)

Runtime:

114 min | Singapore:96 min | Sweden:95 min | USA:83 min | Finland:100 min (1955)

Country:

France

Language:

French | German | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved | West Germany:6 (nf) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Hotel de la Plage - 37 rue Commandant Charcot, Saint-Marc-sur-Mer, Loire-Atlantique, France

Company:

Discina Film

Trivia:

In English version, Christopher Lee dubbed the entire film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The second time Hulot enters the hotel, with the fishing net and rod, the way he holds them changes between shots.

Quotes:

Opening Titles:Mr. Hulot is off for a week by the sea. Take a seat behind his camera, and you can spend it with him. Don't look for a plot, for a holiday is meant purely for fun, and if you look for it, you will find more fun in ordinary life than in fiction.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)

All summers used to be like this

It doesn't matter if you're British, not French : all the holidays of our childhoods were like this. Clear, unbroken skies, relatively empty beaches, chaos at the railway station, half the people acting strangely, the other half unyieldingly the same. There are two points where I laughed uncontrollably for several minutes, and that's more than in most films these days ! The rest is beautifully observed and more quietly funny, although Tati's use of sound can get a little irritating. And, yes, there were a number of versions of the film as Tati added bits over the years : for instance, the 'Jaws' sequence was added after Spielberg's film was released.