Nice to see a surprisingly young Fernandel singing (yes, singing!) his way through a typical French farce. Highlights are the title number, most ingratiatingly sung by Fernandel himself against a delightful background bevy of chorus girls and an absolutely hilarious episode in which the countess picks on Fernandel as her lover for the night, but then decides on a more handsome visitor who happens to wander into her château, only to re-instate Fernandel in her bed when the handsome visitor declines her offer. These household re-arrangements involve much packing and unpacking of Fernandel's effects, aided by a delightfully snooty servant whose helpfulness (or unhelpfulness) is dictated strictly by his mistress' current humor.
2 Reviews
A perfectly swimming musical comedy.
JohnHowardReid9 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Director: ALEXANDRE ESWAY. Screenplay: Alin Monjardin. Dialogue: Paul Nivoix. Photography: Gerard Perrin, Maurice Pecqueux. Music: Roger Dumas and Casimir Oberfeld. Lyrics: Jean Manse. Art director: Andre Barsacq. Assistant director: France Gourdji. Producer: Ayres d'Aguiar.
A Gray-Film Production. Initial release: 1938. Not theatrically released in the USA, England or Australia. 95 minutes.
COMMENT: Nice to see a surprisingly young Fernandel singing (yes, singing!) his way through a typical French farce. Highlights are the title number, most ingratiatingly sung by Fernandel himself against a delightful background bevy of chorus girls and an absolutely hilarious episode in which Madame Petit-Durand picks on Fernandel as her lover for the night, but then decides on a more handsome visitor who happens to wander into her chateau, only to re-instate Fernandel in her bed when the handsome visitor declines her offer.
These household re-arrangements involve much packing and unpacking of Fernandel's effects, aided by a delightfully snooty servant whose helpfulness (or unhelpfulness) is dictated strictly by his mistress' current humor.
The three girls who make up the love interests (Paulette Dubost for Fernandel, Claude May for Andrex, and Joselynne Gaël for Roland Toutain) are altogether delightful. Unfortunately, the two male leads are somewhat similar in appearance, which led this viewer into slight confusion, and the big production number at the end of the film has obviously been trimmed to condense the running time. But these are small blots on an otherwise perfectly swimming musical comedy.
A Gray-Film Production. Initial release: 1938. Not theatrically released in the USA, England or Australia. 95 minutes.
COMMENT: Nice to see a surprisingly young Fernandel singing (yes, singing!) his way through a typical French farce. Highlights are the title number, most ingratiatingly sung by Fernandel himself against a delightful background bevy of chorus girls and an absolutely hilarious episode in which Madame Petit-Durand picks on Fernandel as her lover for the night, but then decides on a more handsome visitor who happens to wander into her chateau, only to re-instate Fernandel in her bed when the handsome visitor declines her offer.
These household re-arrangements involve much packing and unpacking of Fernandel's effects, aided by a delightfully snooty servant whose helpfulness (or unhelpfulness) is dictated strictly by his mistress' current humor.
The three girls who make up the love interests (Paulette Dubost for Fernandel, Claude May for Andrex, and Joselynne Gaël for Roland Toutain) are altogether delightful. Unfortunately, the two male leads are somewhat similar in appearance, which led this viewer into slight confusion, and the big production number at the end of the film has obviously been trimmed to condense the running time. But these are small blots on an otherwise perfectly swimming musical comedy.
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