Ludovic Cruchot, the eponymous 'custom-made' gendarme of this famous French comedy, is played by Louis de Funès in his typical way: as an excitable, opportunistic authoritarian with a soft core. At age 49, this film essentially catapulted him to his rank as the most popular French actor, a rank he essentially still holds to this day, four decades after his death.
The film starts as an old-fashioned comedy in black and white, featuring Cruchot as a widower with a barely adult daughter, and the single gendarme of an idyllic mountain village in the French Alps. He is dedicated to his profession to the point where he can be described as hyperactive. He is also prone to comical mishaps. The film proper begins with Cruchot's advancement to a minor leading position in the glamorous seaside resort Saint-Tropez (in the South of France on the coast of the Mediterranean). This is where the film turns into color, the music becomes jazzy, and the real opening credits start.
The highest-ranking officer of the gendarmerie at Saint-Tropez is Adjudant Gerber, Cruchot's immediate superior and instant target of his brown nosing. Cruchot himself commands the other four gendarmes with an iron fist, starting right after he leaves the bus. All the gendarmes live in the old gendarmerie building with their wives, or in Cruchot's case with his daughter Nicole.
This film isn't really about plot, but there is a minor plot about the gendarmes' battle against illegal nude bathing and a major plot related to Nicole's somewhat chaotic efforts to be accepted by the local (jetset) youth. They give rise to interaction with criminals and some nice action sequences.
The five sequels (1965-1982) are surprisingly diverse while retaining most of the atmosphere of the present film. The last three were noticeably more mad, though. All six films were directed by Jean Girault.
In Le gendarme à New York (1965), the 6 gendarmes of Saint-Tropez are selected to represent France at an international gendarmerie congress in New York. Travel there on the same boat as their Italian rivals. Complications again arise from Nicole's fear of missing out.
In the unrelated hilarious and very successful comedy Oscar (1967), Claude Gensac played the wife of Louis de Funès' character, and turned out to be the perfect comedic foil for his antics. So it shouldn't come as a big surprise that just a year later, in Le gendarme se marie (1968), she plays a general's widow who turns up in Saint-Tropez, apparently with the single goal of making Cruchot her new husband. He fits the deceased's uniform, so she just needs to make him propose to her and ensure he advances through the ranks. The main complication is related to a dangerous criminal. This is the last film in which we see Nicole.
In Le gendarme en balade (1970), the six familiar gendarmes of Saint-Tropez are forced to retire and make place for the next generation. They are not at all happy with this situation, and after going through a series of mad adventures while illegally wearing their old uniforms, they end up saving the city from a nuclear explosion, and are reinstated.
There was almost a decade without another sequel while other successful Funès films came out, but also Star Wars (1977). The latter film's success apparently made it inevitable to confront the gendarmes of Saint-Tropez with hostile extra-terrestrials. Le gendarme et les extra-terrestres (1979) did this without losing its grounding and became another popular and financial, though not critical, success. Unfortunately, four relatively important roles had to be recast.
Another sequel about the revenge of the extra-terrestrials was scrapped in favor of the unrelated Funès film La soupe aux choux (1981), also directed by Jean Girault.
For Le gendarme et les gendarmettes (1982), Claude Gensac was again available to play Mme Cruchot. Things go spectacularly wrong when the gendarmerie of Saint-Tropez is selected to host four young female gendarmes. The deaths of Jean Girault and Louis de Funès prevented any further sequels.
Among the elements that tie the six films together, there is the regular appearance of a bubbly, short-sighted young nun with a taste for speed. The car chases in which she drives a 2CV seem a likely inspiration for a similarly hilarious car chase in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
The film starts as an old-fashioned comedy in black and white, featuring Cruchot as a widower with a barely adult daughter, and the single gendarme of an idyllic mountain village in the French Alps. He is dedicated to his profession to the point where he can be described as hyperactive. He is also prone to comical mishaps. The film proper begins with Cruchot's advancement to a minor leading position in the glamorous seaside resort Saint-Tropez (in the South of France on the coast of the Mediterranean). This is where the film turns into color, the music becomes jazzy, and the real opening credits start.
The highest-ranking officer of the gendarmerie at Saint-Tropez is Adjudant Gerber, Cruchot's immediate superior and instant target of his brown nosing. Cruchot himself commands the other four gendarmes with an iron fist, starting right after he leaves the bus. All the gendarmes live in the old gendarmerie building with their wives, or in Cruchot's case with his daughter Nicole.
This film isn't really about plot, but there is a minor plot about the gendarmes' battle against illegal nude bathing and a major plot related to Nicole's somewhat chaotic efforts to be accepted by the local (jetset) youth. They give rise to interaction with criminals and some nice action sequences.
The five sequels (1965-1982) are surprisingly diverse while retaining most of the atmosphere of the present film. The last three were noticeably more mad, though. All six films were directed by Jean Girault.
In Le gendarme à New York (1965), the 6 gendarmes of Saint-Tropez are selected to represent France at an international gendarmerie congress in New York. Travel there on the same boat as their Italian rivals. Complications again arise from Nicole's fear of missing out.
In the unrelated hilarious and very successful comedy Oscar (1967), Claude Gensac played the wife of Louis de Funès' character, and turned out to be the perfect comedic foil for his antics. So it shouldn't come as a big surprise that just a year later, in Le gendarme se marie (1968), she plays a general's widow who turns up in Saint-Tropez, apparently with the single goal of making Cruchot her new husband. He fits the deceased's uniform, so she just needs to make him propose to her and ensure he advances through the ranks. The main complication is related to a dangerous criminal. This is the last film in which we see Nicole.
In Le gendarme en balade (1970), the six familiar gendarmes of Saint-Tropez are forced to retire and make place for the next generation. They are not at all happy with this situation, and after going through a series of mad adventures while illegally wearing their old uniforms, they end up saving the city from a nuclear explosion, and are reinstated.
There was almost a decade without another sequel while other successful Funès films came out, but also Star Wars (1977). The latter film's success apparently made it inevitable to confront the gendarmes of Saint-Tropez with hostile extra-terrestrials. Le gendarme et les extra-terrestres (1979) did this without losing its grounding and became another popular and financial, though not critical, success. Unfortunately, four relatively important roles had to be recast.
Another sequel about the revenge of the extra-terrestrials was scrapped in favor of the unrelated Funès film La soupe aux choux (1981), also directed by Jean Girault.
For Le gendarme et les gendarmettes (1982), Claude Gensac was again available to play Mme Cruchot. Things go spectacularly wrong when the gendarmerie of Saint-Tropez is selected to host four young female gendarmes. The deaths of Jean Girault and Louis de Funès prevented any further sequels.
Among the elements that tie the six films together, there is the regular appearance of a bubbly, short-sighted young nun with a taste for speed. The car chases in which she drives a 2CV seem a likely inspiration for a similarly hilarious car chase in For Your Eyes Only (1981).