Fernandel Movies
Born Fernand Joseph Desire Contandin, Fernandel was a great French comedy star with a long, toothy face and a shy manner. The son of a music-hall entertainer, he began performing while still a child; in his teens he supported himself in a variety of jobs while gaining experience as an amateur comedian and singer. In 1922 he turned professional, soon becoming popular in vaudeville, operettas, and music-hall revues. He debuted onscreen in 1930, going on to perform in many minor films before becoming very popular with his serious role in the screen adaptation of Maupassant's Le Rosier de Madame Husson (1932). For the next four decades he was France's top comedic actor, giving more than 100 comic performances onscreen; occasionally he also had dramatic roles. He was perhaps best-loved for his portrayal of the humorously indomitable, eccentric priest at war with the town's communist mayor in the "Don Camillo" series. Also popular outside of France, he occasionally appeared in Italian and American productions; his first Hollywood film was Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) in which he played David Niven's coachman. Fernandel also directed or co-produced a few of his own films. ~ All Movie Guide- 1958
Le Confident de ces Dames is a wacky though uneven comedy held up by the talents of Fernandel, playing a veterinarian. The vet's life is turned around completely when he finds himself assisting a woman who has been injured in an accident. He pulls the woman through the worst of the crisis and later, when the news gets out to all the media, he becomes a major hero. The woman, it turns out, is a well-known actress. Other women latch onto his name and, impressed by his deed, start flocking to him in droves to seek his help. The lowly veterinarian with his background in animal medicine is hardly equipped to handle female complaints -- and that is only one part of a few more adventures waiting in the wings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Denise Grey, (more)
- 1958
Henri (Fernandel) returns to his homeland after spending several years abroad. Staying with a wealthy friend, he finds his friend is involved with a woman. The woman turns out to be Henri's former lover, and sparks rekindle between them. However, the flame goes out when Henri embarks on a harmless drunken escapade. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Pierre Dux, (more)
- 1957
Horse-faced farceur Fernandel is definitely not the title character in the Franco-Spanish spoof Don Juan. Like Bob Hope in Casanova's Big Night, our hero is merely the servant of the the legendary Latin lover. To save Don Juan from political intrigue, Fernandel disguises himself as his boss, with results that are both hilariously predictable and uproariously unexpected. The sexiest of this ersatz Don Juan's amours is played by Carmen Sevila. Don Juan was directed by John Berry, a Hollywood helmsman who was forced by the Blacklist to work in Europe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two of filmdom's finest farceurs--Hollywood's Bob Hope and France's Fernandel--are teamed in the location-filmed Paris Holiday. Since Hope coauthored the script, however, guess which actor has the largest part. Cast more or less as himself, Hope plays an American comedian who comes to Paris to purchase a script. Little does his suspect that the script contains secret messages pertaining to a vicious gang of counterfeiters. With the help of villainess-turned-heroine Anita Ekberg, Hope is committed to an insane asylum to protect him from the bad guys; he then must rely upon Fernandel to spring him from the looney bin. Throughout Paris Holiday, Bob Hope looks too old and too rich to be indulging in such nonsense. Film buffs will enjoy the brief, unbilled appearance by famed producer-director-writer Preston Sturges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The title of this French satirical comedy translates to The Unemployed Man of Clochemerle. In point of fact, there's only one unemployed man in the town Clochemerle, and that's the hapless Tistin (Fernandel). Obliged to use their tax money to keep Tistin from starving, the other townspeople insist that he find some sort of work. Tistin obligingly takes a few jobs, working for the various ladies in town. Before long, the menfolk become convinced that Tistin is playing the field, and they're angry at him all over again. And so it goes under a happy ending -- happy for everyone else, that is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The raincoated gent of the title is horse-faced French comedian Fernandel, who plays luckless jazz musician Albert Constantin. Thanks to the chicanery of a slick gangster boss, Albert finds himself up to his ears in murder and treachery. The farcical elements of the film are juxtaposed with moments of startling violence, but in the end laughter wins out. American actor John McGiver, in France to film his supporting role in Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon, is herein cast as a pivotal character. The Man in the Raincoat (L'Homme à l'Impermeable) was not officially remade as The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972), though the similarities between the two films are quite pronounced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Jean Rigaux, (more)
- 1956
France's Fernandel and Italy's Alberto Sordi provide an abundance of laughs in Sous le Ciel de Provence (Under Skies of Provence). Fernandal plays a travelling salesman who makes the mistake of his life when he offers to help his fellow bus passenger, a very pretty and very pregnant young lady (Tina Roca). For purposes of decorum, the girl begs the salesman to pose as her husband. He agrees, little realizing how inextricably he will be involved in her family's trials and tribulations. A remake of the 1943 Italian comedy Four Steps in the Clouds, Sous le Ciel de Provence was wittily scripted by the great Cesar Zavattini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Razzle-dazzle showman Michael Todd hocked everything he had to make this spectacular presentation of Jules Verne's 1872 novel Around the World in 80 Days, the second film to be lensed in the wide-screen Todd-AO production. Nearly as fascinating as the finished product are the many in-production anecdotes concerning Todd's efforts to pull the wool over the eyes of local authorities in order to cadge the film's round-the-world location shots--not to mention the wheeling and dealing to convince over forty top celebrities to appear in cameo roles. David Niven heads the huge cast as ultra-precise, supremely punctual Phileas Fogg, who places a 20,000-pound wager with several fellow members of London Reform Club, insisting that he can go around the world in eighty days (this, remember, is 1872). Together with his resourceful valet Passepartout (Cantinflas), Fogg sets out on his world-girdling journey from Paris via balloon. Meanwhile, suspicion grows that Fogg has stolen his 20,000 pounds from Bank of England. Diligent Inspector Fix (Robert Newton) is sent out by the bank's president (Robert Morley) to bring Fogg to justice. Hopscotching around the globe, Fogg pauses in Spain, where Passepartout engages in a comic bullfight (a specialty of Cantinflas). In India, Fogg and Passepartout rescue young widow Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine, in her third film) from being forced into committing suicide so that she may join her late husband. The threesome visit Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco, and the Wild West. Only hours short of winning his wager, Fogg is arrested by the diligent Inspector Fixx. Though exonerated of the bank robbery charges, he has lost everything--except the love of the winsome Aouda. But salvation is at hand when Passepartout discovers that, by crossing the International Date Line, there's still time to reach the Reform Club. Will they make it? See for yourself. Among the film's 46 guest stars, the most memorable include Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Jose Greco, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, Red Skelton, Buster Keaton, John Mills, and Beatrice Lillie. All were paid in barter--Ronald Colman did his brief bit for a new car. Newscaster Edward R. Murrow provides opening narration, and there's a tantalizing clip from Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902). Offering a little something for everyone, Around the World in 80 Days is nothing less than an extravaganza, and it won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Cantinflas, (more)
- 1956
This Gallic farce is better known to "Late Late Show" fanatics as Fernandel the Dressmaker. Sure enough, horse-faced comedian Fernandel is cast as a couturier, permitting director Jean Boyer to trot out a variety of underdressed young ladies at the slightest opportunity. The plot concerns Fernandel's efforts to hide his vocation from his jealous wife Suzy Delair. When she does find out, she walks out on him, determined to teach him a lesson by taking up with other men. All is forgiven by fadeout time as both husband and wife divest themselves of their troublesome extracurricular romantic entanglements. Many of the film's best gags involve homosexual characters, and as such may not play too well when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Suzy Delair, (more)
- 1955
Don Camillo e l'on Peppone was the third in a series of film comedies based on characters created by Giovanni Gareschi. Fernandel and Gino Cervi return as, repectively, resourceful Italian village priest Don Camillo and his friendly enemy, Communist mayor Peppone. This time, the two adversaries are pitted against each other in a local election, even though neither one wants to win. Don Camillo comes out on top by promising to help Peppone pass an important qualifying exam, in exchange for a new church construction project. Most slapsticky than previous "Don Camillo" entries, the highlight of Don Camillo e l'on Peppone is a zany runaway-tank sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Gino Cervi, (more)
- 1955
Perhaps because its American distribution was brief, Le Printemps, L'Autumne et L'Amour is one of the lesser-known Fernandel vehicles. The lantern-jawed comedian plays a confirmed middle-aged bachelor, whose life is radically altered when he rescues 18-year-old Nicole Berger from drowning. Out of gratitude, the girl marries Fernandel, but predictably the union is far from satisfactory. Complications arise when Berger falls in love with Phillipe Nicaud, a boy closer to her own age. If one must have a May-December drama, better one with Fernandel than those overheated Hugo Haas-Cleo Moore extravaganzas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Nicole Berger, (more)
- 1954
The matchless French farceur Fernandel essays six different roles in The Sheep Has Five Legs. We first see the horse-faced one as an elderly wine grower, looking forward to an upcoming family reunion with mixed emotions. One by one, the other five Fernandels make their appearances; these are the wine-grower's sons, each one a small masterpiece of comic characterization. Despite an overreliance on dialogue, the film's humor translates quite well to non-French audiences. The film's original title was Le Mouton a Cinq Pattes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Françoise Arnoul, (more)
- 1954
Mam'zelle Nitouche represented Fernandel's only 1954 film vehicle. The horse-faced comic actor is cast as Celestin, an organist at a girl's school. By day, Celestin is the meek and mild target of the girls' incessant practical jokes. By night, however, he is the celebrated composer of popular operas -- and the romantic vis-à-vis of a celebrated stage star. When schoolgirl Denise (Pier Angeli) stumbles onto Celestin's secret, she threatens to tell all -- but only if Celestin refuses to escort her to the opening night of his latest opera. As a result, Denise falls in love with a handsome young soldier, while Celestin is accidentally shipped off to an army camp. A series of silly coincidences brings happiness to all concerned by fade-out time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Anna Maria Pier Angeli, (more)
- 1954
Lantern-jawed French comedian Fernandel plays a dual role in Most Wanted Man. He stars as an ordinary Joe (or ordinary Pierre, perhaps) who is the exact double of a notorious gangster. In the tradition of Edward G. Robinson's The Whole Town's Talking, Fernandel must take the place of the criminal, and vice versa. The toughest hurdle in the charade is fooling the gangster's mistress "Mademoiselle", played by Zsa Zsa Gabor (who unlike Fernandel has trouble playing one role). Eventually Zsa Zsa takes a liking to the "nice" Fernandel and helps him collar the rest of the crooks. Most Wanted Man was first released in the U.S. as Most Wanted Man in the World; it was initially screened in France in 1953 as L'Ennemi Public No. 1. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Zsa Zsa Gabor, (more)
- 1954
Fernandel is the somewhat over-aged Ali Baba in this astonishingly expensive Arabian Nights escapade. In this filmization of the old "Arabian Knights" tale, Ali Baba is a slave who is sent to fetch his master's latest wife (Samia Gamal). The horse-faced family retainer falls in love with the girl himself, and spends the rest of the film trying to be worthy of her. The last shot shows Ali Baba and a "few intimate friends" converging on the cave of the 40 thieves. In an incredible long shot, we discover that Ali's friends number in the tens of thousands! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Dieter Borsche, (more)
- 1953
Fernandel plays the Raimu-like title character in Le Boulanger de Valorgue (The Baker of Valorgue). A young girl (Pierette Bruno) deposits a baby at baker Fernandel's doorstep, insisting that the child's father is the baker's own son, who is currently in the army. Despite his pronounced lack of patience, the baker dutifully hunkers down to the responsibilities of parenthood. The plot then segues into a labor-management clash and a community-dividing strike. Director Henri Verneuil offers a sharp, witty slant on small-town pretensions. Though Fernandel carries the ball comically, he is given a run for his money by scene-stealer Ardisson, cast as the dimwitted village postman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Georges Chamarat, (more)
- 1953
The winning combination of star Fernandel and director Henri Verneuil scored another success with 1953's Carnaval. Fernandel plays Dardamelle, an architect who is only mildly put out when he discovers that his wife Francine (Jacqueline Pagnol) has been unfaithful. In fact, he takes great pride that Francine is so attractive to another man, bragging about her indiscretion to all his friends. He even founds an organization for cuckolded husbands, culminating in a carnival parade float celebrating his friends' "betrayal." The satiric mood is broken at the finale, giving way to unexpected sentimentality. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Jacqueline Pagnol, (more)
- 1953
Retour de Don Camillo (The Return of Don Camillo) is the sequel to the internationally popular French comedy The Little World of Don Camillo. Fernandel returns as the title character, a resourceful, pugnacious Italian village priest. Because of his previous run-ins with communist mayor Peppone (Gino Cervi), Don Camillo is sent to another parish by the Church. Soon, however, all the villagers -- Peppone included -- realize that the priest is indispensable, and they demand his return. In one of the film's funniest moments, an elderly citizen steadfastly refuses to die until Don Camillo administers last rites. Like its predecessor, Retour de Don Camillo is based on a novel by Givoanni Guareschi -- and, also like the earlier film, Retour was a worldwide hit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Gino Cervi, (more)
- 1953
An irate husband announces his wife's adulterous activities by placing a billboard a top his house in this comedy. He then begins to organize a society of cuckolded spouses. They design a float for the carnival parade and win first prize. In the end the errant wife returns and the husband makes a serious, final speech about the potential costs of her threatening to leave him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Monsieur Fernandel plays the sheep-shearer, who makes a decision to say goodbye to the little lambs and to concentrate on the beautiful mademoiselles. Sacre bleu! It is tres funny (almost like the Jerry Lewis film, yes?) when Fernandel becomes the hairdresser, and begins clipping the ladies much in the manner of the sheep. And Fernandel's wife, she is not so happy over the many ladies that Fernandel is shearing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Blanchette Brunoy, (more)
- 1952
The unbeatable combination of star Fernandel and director Henri Verneuil strikes again with Le Fruit Defendu (Forbidden Fruit). Fernandel plays a rural doctor, trapped in a dull, uneventful marriage. During a visit to the city, the doctor falls for a young lady (Francoise Arnoul) of very loose morals. Unwilling to relinquish this affair upon returning home, the doc works out a clever scheme whereby he can install the girl in his own home without arousing the suspicions of his wife (Claude Nollier) . How he does this, and how he's finally caught, is handled in a hilarious but scrupulously tasteful fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Claude Nollier, (more)
