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- 1951
Noel (Bernard Blier), a grown-up mama's boy, falls heir to a busy matrimonial bureau. Assuming command of the operation, Noel becomes fascinated with the various degrees of loneliness which prompt his clients to seek out his services. As a result, he begins to place his own loneliness and sense of inadequacy in perspective. The supporting characters are drawn in broad strokes, though they never lapse into ridiculous caricatures. Agence Matrimoniale would make a piquant double feature with the Hollywood comedy-drama The Model and the Marriage Broker (1952). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Blier, Michele Alfa, (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)
- 1960
Jean-Pierre Cassel is ideally cast as the hopelessly optimistic Candide in this noir updating of Voltaire's classic 18th-century social satire. Candide has been assured by his ivory-tower professor (Pierre Brasseur) that whatever fate befalls him, he will be all the better for it. Armed with the confidence of the ignorant, Candide is abused by practically everyone he comes across (he has a particularly rough time in a German POW camp), but somehow emerges with his faith in humanity unscathed. His picaresque adventures take him all the way to the Americas, both North and South. Just as in most stage versions of Candide, some of the supporting actors play double and triple roles: Robert Manuel, for example, portrays all the German officers Candide meets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brasseur, Michel Simon, (more)
- 1963
An overly ambitious young man hopes to rise to the top of the advertising business. When he feels his progress is being impeded, he conspires to murder his way up the corporate ladder. He uses the bodies of his victims as rungs to climb to the top in this macabre comedy of errors. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Serrault, (more)
- 1956
Fernand Gravey and Jacques Duby star as a pair of slick race track touts in need of some quick cash. Targetting rural rube Jean Richard as a patsy, the two sharpsters con him into putting up his hard-earned cash on a few sure things. Within what seems like seconds, Richard becomes wealthy by using his instincts, while the "clever" Gravey and Duby come a-cropper by playing the odds. If it's possible for a French film to be Runyonesque, then Courte Tete is that film. Though the title's "official" translation is By a Nose, Courte Tete was released to American TV as Photo Finish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernand Gravey, Micheline Dax, (more)
- 1963
A jealous ex-convict is released from prison and tries to kill the man who had been seeing his girlfriend in this offbeat burlesque comedy. When the plan backfires, the body of the dead ex-con is placed in a bass case. Louise De Funes stars as the man who is mistaken for the killer who is making time with Rockie (Mireille Darc). Michel Serrault and Maurice Biraud co-star with Francis Blanche and Malka Ribowska in this feature directed by Georges Lautner. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Michel Serrault, (more)
- 1954
Escalier de Service (Service Entrance) charts the misadventures of gorgeous maidservant Marie-Lou (Etchika Choreau). After fainting in public, Marie-Lou is allowed to convalesce in the apartment of a handsome photographer. Feeling a bit frisky one morning, our heroine begins to recall isolated incidents in her past, which are then enacted by an all-star supporting cast. Mischa Auer, Robert Lamoreaux, Danielle Darieaux and Jacques Morel are among those who have had the benefit (in more ways than one) of Marie-Lou's services. Escalier de Service was directed by Carlo Rim, best known for his work on the Fernandel comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Robert Lamoureux, (more)
- 1964
French comedian Louis de Funes stars as Garnier, a shopkeeper who gets taken advantage of by a local banker. He decides to retaliate by planning a bank robbery. Rather than going about it in a more conventional manner, Garnier begins digging a tunnel from his store, intending to reach the bank vault across the street. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Georges Wilson, (more)
