Louis de Funès Movies
French actor Louis de Funès started out as a comic in Paris nightclubs and as a radio performer. He began appearing in French films in 1945 and between then and 1979 made over 100 films. Through the 1950s and '60s, he was the most popular comedian in France. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1945
La Tentation de Barbizon is a romantic fantasy, a genre quite popular in postwar France. Daniel Gelin and Juliette Faber star as a blissfully happy honeymooning couple. They are so happy, in fact, that they arouse the jealous attentions of Satan. Intending to break up the romance, the Dark Prince sends an emissary to do the deed. The devil's advocate is promptly challenged by a representative from "up above". Engagingly written and well acted, La Tentation de Barbizon is laid low by the listless direction of
ean Stelli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Renant, François Perier, (more)
- 1947
Jacques Becker's Antoine et Antoinette bears echoes of the early-talkie Rene Clair classic Le Million. Roger Pigaut plays Antoine, a foreman in a bookbinding factory, while Claire Maffei portrays his salesgirl wife Antoinette. The story gets under way when a valuable lottery ticket is lost, sending hero and heroine into a tizzy. Before a happy ending can be attained, Antoine and Antoinette come in contact with a wide variety of supporting characters, many of whom have a vested interest in that ticket. By filming his story against a backdrop of actual locations and realistically appointed studio sets, co-writer/director Jacques Beckerhas transformed this wafer-thin comedy romance into an encapsulation of the Parisian working class. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Pigaut, Claire Mafféi, (more)
- 1949
Pierre Fresnay heads the cast of Vient de Paraitre as Moscat, a mean-spirited, thoroughly untrustworthy publisher. Possessed of a messianic complex, Moscat thinks nothing of toying with the lives and destinies of his authors, as long as such behavior boosts book sales. Right now he is endeavoring to win a coveted literary award, using a young, self-effacing novelist as his conduit. When the novelist chooses another publisher, Moscat's revenge is swift, terrible, and ultimately self-defeating. Still, this is one picture where virtue doesn't triumph. Vient de Paraitre must have been quite an eye-opener for American filmgoers who knew Pierre Fresnay only for his saintly portrayal of the title character in Monsieur Vincent (1946). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blanchette Brunoy, Rellys, (more)
One of the most pretentious "apocalypse" films ever made, Five is set in a lavish Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house--owned by Arch Oboler, the film's writer/producer/director. The "five" of the title are the only survivors of a nuclear disaster, all of whom have rather illogically converged in this house. William Phipps, the hero, was left untouched by the explosion because he'd been alone in an Empire State Building elevator! He is the first to arrive at the house, and is joined in quick succession by a pregnant woman (Susan Douglas), a fascistic soldier of fortune (James Anderson), an African American doorman (Charles Lampkin) and a shell-shocked bank clerk (Earl Lee). The clerk mercifully dies of radiation early on, leaving the remaining four to converse at great and boring length on all things philosophical. At long, long last, only the hero and the woman are left alive to do the "Adam and Eve" bit. Though Arch Oboler was one of the greatest radio writers of all time, Five proves that he was in over his head as a filmmaker; the dialogue evokes laughter rather than profound thought, and the plotline has logic holes big enough to drive trucks through. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Phipps, Susan Douglas, (more)
- 1951
Set in a fancy resort hotel, Le Dindon is based on a stage farce by the inimitable Georges Feydeau. The title, which translates to "The Turkey," refers to the sort of fellow who spends his time romancing the wives of others. All the usual stock characters are in attendance, including the amorous fashion plate, the wry playboy, the ripe-for-cuckolding husband, his impressionable wife, and a pompous, easily deflatable authority figure, in this case a cavalry officer. It was de rigeur for Feydeau to include at least one character with a "funny" physical or vocal impairment. This time, it is the stone-deaf wife of a lecherous bellhop. There's a plot, to be sure, but that plot is soon forgotten amidst a maelstrom of assignations, misunderstandings, misrepresentations and ever-slamming doors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nadine Alari, Jacqueline Pierreux, (more)
- 1951
Fernard Gravet may look like a natural-born philanderer in Ma Femma est Formidable, but appearances are deceiving. Condemned without evidence as a "rake" by his dimwitted wife Sylvia (Sophie Desmarets) and his monstrous in-laws, Raymond Corbier (Gravet) is further bedeviled by the unwarranted advances of man-chasing Marguerite Rival (Simone Valere). Before long, the whole melange looks like a Leon Errol 2-reeler, complete with fake suicides, slapstick and a wisecracking parrot. While it may not seem like such a much to American viewers, Ma Femme est Formidable was a hit in France; in fact, it won several awards at various French film festivals. The film was directed by Andre Hunebelle, who was undoubtedly gratified that he gave up his previous occupation of glassmaker when the box-office take began rolling in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernand Gravey, Sophie Desmarets, (more)
