Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob (1973)

Director:

Gérard Oury

Writers:

Roberto De Leonardis (writer)
Josy Eisenberg (dialogue)

Release Date:

18 October 1973 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

THE WILD... THE HILARIOUS... THE SCREWBALL... THE RIOTOUS

Plot:

A bigoted Frenchman finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins - and the police.

Plot Keywords:

Rabbi | Airport | Kidnapping | Republican Guard | Racism

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Louis de Funès	...	Victor Pivert / Rabbi Jacob
Suzy Delair	...	Germaine Pivert
Marcel Dalio	...	Rabbi Jacob (as Dalio)
Claude Giraud	...	Mohamed Larbi Slimane / Rabbi Zeiligman
Renzo Montagnani	...	Farès
Janet Brandt
André Falcon	...	Le ministre
Xavier Gélin	...	Le fils du général
Henri Guybet	...	Salomon
Popeck	...	Moishe (as Jean Herbert)
Miou-Miou	...	Antoinette Pivert
Denise Provence	...	Esther
Jacques François	...	Le général / The general
Claude Piéplu	...	Commissaire Andreani
Georges Adet	...	Le vieux Lévi

Also Known As:

Le folli avventure di Rabbi Jacob (Italy)
The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (International: English title)
The Mad Adventures of 'Rabbi' Jacob (USA)

Runtime:

100 min | Spain:91 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English | Hebrew | Yiddish | Arabic

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | USA:G | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Café Les Deux Magots - 6 place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris 6, Paris, France

Company:

Les Films Pomereu

Trivia:

The movie was released on October 18th 1973, during Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab countries. That very day, the press attaché's wife hijacked a plane to prevent the movie from being released, claiming that the movie was pro-Israeli. She eventually was shot by police marksmen.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the boat escape sequence the headlamps of the car are on, but the rear lamps are not.

Quotes:

[as his Cab fills up with Jewish men accompanying Rabbi Jacob]
New York Taxi Driver: Hey, this is a taxi, not a synagogue!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Pastewka: Der Unfall (#1.1)" (2005)

An all time classic!

After seeing this movie, I wanted to write a review saying how funny this film was, so anyone checking IMDB would know. Luckily, all of the other reviews already capture the hilarious nature of this film. I can only add that my French teacher said most French people have seen the movie many times and practically know it by heart. Even though she has seen it many times, she wanted to see it yet again. Everybody will like this film, unless you really hate slapstick. If you are Jewish, it is especially funny, but if you aren't its still a complete riot.