La grande vadrouille (1966)

Director:

Gérard Oury

Writers:

Marcel Jullian (writer)
Gérard Oury (writer)

Release Date:

8 December 1966 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

An allied bomberplane is shot down over Paris by the Germans. Its crew (Terry Thomas as a flight captain) land there by parachute...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Halftrack | Flat Tire | Turkish Bath | Steel Helmet

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Bourvil	...	Augustin Bouvet
Louis de Funès	...	Stanislas LeFort
Claudio Brook	...	Peter Cunningham
Andréa Parisy	...	Soeur Marie-Odile / Sister Marie-Odile
Colette Brosset	...	Germaine
Mike Marshall	...	Alan MacIntosh
Mary Marquet	...	Mère Supérieure
Pierre Bertin	...	Le grand-père de Juliette - propriétaire du guignol
Benno Sterzenbach	...	Major Achbach
Marie Dubois	...	Juliette
Terry-Thomas	...	Sir Reginald
Sieghardt Rupp	...	Lt. Stuermer
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Un caporal allemand
Helmuth Schneider	...	L'officier allemand dans le train (as Helmut Schneider)
Paul Préboist	...	Le pêcheur

Also Known As:

Don't Look Now - We're Being Shot At (UK)
Don't Look Now, We've Been Shot At
Don't Look Now: We're Being Shot At (USA)

Runtime:

132 min | West Germany:101 min

Country:

France | UK

Language:

French | English | German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:Btl | USA:G | West Germany:6 (nf) (w)

Filming Locations:

Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Les Films Corona

Trivia:

Louis de Funès (Stanislas) is viewed playing the piano when he is at the Paris Opera House. In reality, during World War II, de Funès played the piano in bars in Paris during the occupation.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Stanislas and Antoine enter Mersault and are standing in the place across from the Hotel du Globe, a modern lit up sign for the hotel stands above the doorway. In World War II, no lights were permitted outside that could be viewed from the air so if the sign had been there, it would have been dark.

Quotes:

Sir Reginald: Get in!
Stanislas LeFort: Qu'est-ce qu'il dit?
Augustin Bouvet: Il dit: "Get in!"

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Incognito (2009)

Soundtrack:

Rakoczy March S. 11

One of the most popular French movies of all time

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.