L'impossible Monsieur Pipelet (1955)

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Director:

André Hunebelle

Writer:

Jean Halain (scenario, adaptation and dialogue)

Stars:

Michel Simon, Etchika Choureau, Mischa Auer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michel Simon	...	Maurice Martin
Etchika Choureau	...	Jacqueline Martin
Mischa Auer	...	L'écrivain
Maurice Baquet	...	Jojo
Jean Brochard	...	Monsieur Richet
Jean-Jacques Delbo	...	Monsieur Francis (as Jean Jacques Delbo)
Jacques Dynam	...	Monsieur Durand, un futur père
Louis de Funès	...	Oncle Robert (as Louis De Funès)
Noël Roquevert	...	Le colonel
Louis Velle	...	Georges Richet
Georgette Anys	...	Tante Mathilde
Simone Bach	...	Une camarade de Jacqueline
Christiane Choiseul
Jacqueline Gut	...	Madame Smith
Benoîte Labb	...	La patronne du bistrot (as Benoite Lab)

Storyline

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

26 July 1955 (France)

Also Known As:

El portero, su hija y don Basilio

Filming Locations:

Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre, Paris 18, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Production Artistique et Cinématographique (PAC),Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French censorship visa #16.617

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Quotes

Maurice Martin: Well, you called me an admiral, why couldn't I call you a minister? Calling you a minister isn't such a serious insult!

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Soundtracks

Poussez, poussez l'escarpolette
from the operetta "Véronique" (1888)
Lyrics by Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval
Music by André Messager
Sung by Gaby Morlay

User Reviews

Paris mid-fifties

Monsieur Martin's nickname ,"Pipelet" ,is taken from Eugène Sue's mammoth novel "Les Mystères De Paris;"Pipelet" has become a common name for the "Concierges",a very frequent job at the time .

André Hunebelle was not what they call "an auteur" :he used to see which way the Wind blew and made gentle comedies (like this one) ,sword and sandal movies and spy thrillers,depending on the taste of the era .

Michel Simon was,as usual ,perfect as the lead :although his daughter has just got her Baccalauréat -which,at the time,was something !- ,he always enjoys using slang with one of the tenants ,a would be "writer" ,maybe a nod to his old part in "Fric Frac " ;otherwise,I think that his then-co-star Arletty would have made a much better wife than sluggish Gaby Morlay ,who is too distinguished to play a woman of the people successfully.

This is more a succession of daily life vignettes than a real screenplay;the love affair between the Concierge's daughter and the owner of the house (a self made man who has become the king of canned peas)does not take more than 20 minutes in the whole film.

There are some interesting lines:"Why should we call him "Monsieur Richet" whereas he calls us "My good fellow"? "So princes don't marry Shepherd girls? Who do you think you are?the king of canned peas whose father was a greengrocer!would you call your son a prince?" Louis De Funès is cast as Simon's brother-in-law but he already has a tendency to overplay;Louis Velle would become famous in the early seventies thanks to "La Demoiselle D'Avignon" TV series .

It's an old-fashioned movie,but it shows the little world of men and women of the people in the mid-fifties.