The American Beauty (1961)

Marcel, a simple-minded factory worker, is tricked into buying a high-priced American convertible by a widow determined not to let it fall into the hands of her late husband's secretary/... See full summary »

Directors:

Robert Dhéry, Pierre Tchernia (co-director)

Writers:

Alfred Adam (dialogue), Alfred Adam (screenplay)

Stars:

Alfred Adam, Colette Brosset, Robert Burnier

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alfred Adam	...	Alfred
Colette Brosset	...	Paulette Perrignon
Robert Burnier	...	Houche
Pierre Dac	...	le colonel
Eliane D'Almeida	...	Simone (as Éliane d'Almeida)
Bernard Dhéran	...	M. Jean
Robert Dhéry	...	Marcel Perrignon
Annie Ducaux	...	Mme Lucanzas
Jacques Fabbri	...	Le gros / Fatso
Louis de Funès	...	Les frères Viralot, le secrétaire du commissariat et le chef du personnel
Bernard Lavalette	...	Le ministre du commerce
Jean Lefebvre	...	Chougnasse, le chef comptable
Jacques Legras	...	Riri, le cafetier
Christian Marin	...	Pierrot
Jean Richard	...	le serrurier

Storyline

Marcel, a simple-minded factory worker, is tricked into buying a high-priced American convertible by a widow determined not to let it fall into the hands of her late husband's secretary/secret lover. Once in possession of the car, Marcel only encounters one bad luck episode after another with the excessive gasoline consumption, his wife trying to sell it to make ends meet, getting into traffic jams, accidentally riding into a car wash with the top down, and more.

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Plot Keywords:

widow | traffic | factory worker | secretary | jealousy | 

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Taglines:

Anything Can Happen When a Frenchman Takes You For a Ride...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

distributor's official site Productor's official site

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

29 September 1961 (France)

Also Known As:

The American Beauty

Filming Locations:

Panthéon, Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, Paris 5, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnie Commerciale Française Cinématographique (CCFC),Le Film d'Art,Corflor

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (end sequence) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Les échos du cinéma: Episode #1.2 (1961)

User Reviews

I like it !!!

I said many times how much I like Robert Dhery, Colette Brosset and the whole team we find in each of their movies( Jacques Legras, Henri Rollin, jacques Fabri, and many others, not to forget Louis de Funès... who became later the great star everybody knows) This makes a good simple comedy, just for a laugh and for good old time nostalgy, with a good story, good playing and very good dialogues. Don't expect a great and brilliant masterpiece. Just comedy and good realistic dialogues. Colette Brosset is lovely as ever, and Jacques Legras shows once more he could do better than Candid camera.

The story ? a man buys a (very) used motorcycle but his wife sees an ad in the paper selling a neat cadillac for the same price. So he buy the car, and his life change. no need to say more, the story itself is well written but not very important, the colourful characters and good dialogues are the goodie of this movie, as in others of Robert Dhery or Pierre Tchernia (whom we can see in this movie, during a scene shown on TV) If you watch some Robert Dhery or Branquignol's movies you'll notice the characters have the real name of the actors. For example, in this one, Jacques Balutin is the inspector Balutin. I recommend this movie to any people who like simple french comedies, want to sit in a comfortable armchair get a good time and forget all their problems during 1:25 hour If you like it see also ah, les belles bacchantes, allez France, Vos gueules les mouettes, Le petit Baigneur,le viager, pas de problème and most of Louis de Funès movies, as obviously he didn't forget to give a role to his old mates in later movies, when he was a star.