Farewell, Friend (1968)

After an overseas deployment, two former French Foreign Legion members plan to break into the vault of a French corporation.

Director:

Jean Herman

Writers:

Jean Herman (screenplay), Sébastien Japrisot (dialogue)

Stars:

Alain Delon, Charles Bronson, Brigitte Fossey

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alain Delon	...	Dino Barran
Charles Bronson	...	Franz Propp
Olga Georges-Picot	...	Isabelle Moreau
Bernard Fresson	...	L'inspecteur Antoine Méloutis
Brigitte Fossey	...	Dominique 'Waterloo' Austerlitz
Ellen Bahl	...	Martha
Jean-Claude Ballard	...	Un inspecteur de police (as Jean-Claude Balard)
Michel Barcet	...	L'inspecteur Muratti
Stéphane Bouy	...	Un homme à Neuilly
André Dumas	...	Le directeur du personnel
Steve Eckardt	...	Le baraqué
Marie-Noëlle Gresset	...	(as Marie-Noelle Gresset)
Lisette Lebon	...	Gilberte
Marianna Falk	...	Catherine
Sandrine Schmidt

Storyline

After serving together in the French Foreign Legion, a mercenary and a doctor leave the service and go their separate ways. Later, they are reunited by a coincidence. The doctor has made a promise to a friend which involves his breaking into a safe to return some improperly removed bearer bonds. When he hides in an office building to accomplish his task, he is followed by the mercenary, who is out to steal the contents of the safe. Locked inside the building together, they reluctantly agree to cooperate in cracking the safe. However, surprises await them both and in the end, they both must rely on 'the honor among thieves' to straighten everything out.

---

Plot Keywords:

legionnaire | former soldier | card game | hat | blame | 

---

Taglines:

The only one to help him is his enemy.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French English

Release Date:

8 August 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farewell, Friend

Filming Locations:

Franstudios - saint maurice, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,800,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Greenwich Film Productions, Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the French soundtrack, Charles Bronson's voice was purposely dubbed with a very strong American accent by director John Berry.

---

Quotes

Dino Barran: Give me your word.
Franz Propp: I ain't got one.
Dino Barran: Give it to me anyway.
Franz Propp: Very well friend.

---

Connections

Featured in The Big Sleaze (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Baran
Written and Performed by François de Roubaix And Orchestra

User Reviews

A clever script from the late SEBASTIAN JAPRISOT and smart performances from the two male leads results in an engaging entertaining thriller

A clever script from the late SEBASTIAN JAPRISOT and smart performances from the two male leads - ALAIN DELON and CHARLES BRONSON (or should it be the other way around) result in an engaging and entertaining thriller.

Add to the above the competent direction from veteran JEAN HERMAN and a sparse but effective score by FRANCOIS DE ROUBAIX, it becomes easy why this film has an odd timeless quality.

This is a buddy buddy or bonding story with two loners, both disillusioned and world weary, returning, presumably from Algiers. Like the other colonial powers of this time (post WW II leading into the 60s), France had struggled to keep up appearances overseas. Losing Algiers was a bitter blow.

ADIEU L'AMI (the original title) chronicles the actions of our two (anti) heroes as they struggle to make a go of it, after their discharge.

One thing happens after another, and the viewer really has to pay attention, because JAPRISOT is lean and economical with his script: if it is there, then there must be a reason.

Suffice to say, these two men battle it out, physically and psychologically, one long weekend. Their motivation is quite different, their goals are different - their survival depends entirely on each other. That ALAIN DELON and CHARLES BRONSON are outwardly so different - the former, arguably a pretty boy, and the latter an ugly thug, adds to the chemistry.

That quest makes for a great story, which in turn, makes for a great film.

Lest I forget there are women in this film, and true to the Japrisot method, they too are memorable, though not nearly as fleshed out; to say much more would be to spoil one's delight in discovering their true nature.

FAREWELL, FRIEND HAS BEEN RELEASED IN THE UK; AN ANAMORPHIC IMAGE, 16.9 ENHANCED; IN English ONLY (not even subtitles for the hard of hearing); A RUNNING TIME OF 110 MINUTES; MONO SOUNDTRACK but the DE ROUBAIX music has lots of punch!

Highly recommended.