Animal (1977)

The funny misadventures of a dating duo of film stunt professionals in France.

Director:

Claude Zidi

Writers:

Michel Audiard (dialogue), Michel Audiard (screenplay)

Stars:

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raquel Welch, Dany Saval

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Mike Gaucher et Bruno Ferrari
Raquel Welch	...	Jane Gardner
Dany Saval	...	Doris
Raymond Gérôme	...	Le comte de Saint-Prix
Jane Birkin	...	La vedette féminine
Johnny Hallyday	...	La vedette masculine
Yves Mourousi	...	Himself
Charles Gérard	...	Hyacinthe
Claude Chabrol	...	Le metteur en scène
Mario David	...	Santos, le Gitan
Henri Génès	...	Camille, le patron du bistrot
Julien Guiomar	...	Fechner
Aldo Maccione	...	Sergio Campanese
Jacques Alric	...	Le maître d'hôtel
Henri Attal	...	Un assistant

Storyline

A movie about a good-for-nothing stuntman called Mike Gaucher who can't do one single job without something going wrong. His fiancée wants to kill him, the film studios don't want to give him any more work and, as King Kong for a promotion in a supermarket, he winds up destroying some display shelves. The only role he plays well is pretending not to be able to hear, speak and walk in order to get money from the government. Then along comes the "beautiful" actor called Bruno Ferrari. Supposedly a fearless stuntman, Ferrari turns out to be afraid of heights once his feet leave the ground. So a stuntman is needed to prevent a scandal. And who is the man who looks most (or exactly) like Bruno? You guessed it, good-for-nothing Mike...

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Plot Keywords:

stuntman | welfare fraud | paris france | stunt | stuntwoman | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

5 October 1977 (France)

Also Known As:

Stuntwoman

Filming Locations:

Rue Caulaincourt, Paris 18, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 25,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,525,628, 31 December 1977

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cerito Films, Les Films Christian Fechner

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the credits Julien Guiomar plays "Fechner". Christian Fechner is the producer of this movie.

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Alternate Versions

The U.S. dubbed video version doesn't include the scenes where Belmondo pretends to be mentally handicapped to fool the inspectors of social service.

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Connections

Referenced in Rozstrel: Jirí Krampol (2018)

User Reviews

Amusing, if insubstantial, French comedy

As he had already proved in other films, Jean Paul Belmondo is possibly the closest European equivalent to Jackie Chan in terms of the stunts and acrobatics he is willing to do (another candidate: Terence Hill). In "L'Animal" he is in peak form and takes some life-threatening risks (including standing on the top of a flying bi-plane!), and, playing two different characters (a stuntman, brave but with a knack for screwing things up, and a movie star, popular, spoiled and gay), he shows his comic talents as well. Raquel Welch does her share of physical stuff, and, needless to say, she is a total babe. This is not a great comedy by any means, and you'll find no substance whatsoever here, but it's still enjoyable enough, especially if you like the two leads. (**1/2)