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
- 1941
The Well-Digger's Daughter served to reunite star Raimu and writer/director Marcel Pagnol, who'd earlier scored an international hit with the "Marseilles trilogy" (Fanny, Marius, Cesar). The title character played by Josette Day, is impregnated by aviator George Gray. Her father, Raimu, orders Josette out of the house so that her younger sisters won't be likewise "corrupted". There's many a moment of pathos and hilarity before Raimu realizes the folly of his behavior. Filmed in 1940, just after France's acquiescence to their Nazi conquerors, The Well-Digger's Daughter didn't make it to the US until 1946. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raimu, Josette Day, (more)
- 1939
In this comedy, a jeweler's helper jilts the boss's daughter for another girl, who turns out to be a gem thief's moll. Unknown to the assistant, she is awaiting her lover's release. His relationship with the moll gets him involved with another who leads him into the burglary of his boss's store, something he didn't even know he was involved in. Fortunately, he figures it all out, goes straight and returns to his first love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arletty, Michel Simon, (more)
- 1939
That matchless French farceur Fernandel has a field day in L'Heritier de Mondesir (The Mondesir Heir). A wicked lampoon on astrology, the story is set in motion when the Baron de Mondesir dies suddenly, leaving a fortune behind. A rustic rube (Fernandel, who also plays six other roles!) finds that, as the Baron's illegitimate offspring, he is the sole heir to the Mondesir estate. It is at this point that our hero is pounced upon by phony astrologers Elvire Popesco and Jules Berry, who seek to separate Fernandel from his bankroll by convincing him that the disposition of his estate has been predetermined by the stars. The villains almost get away with it, but Fernandel is saved by a vision of his noble ancestors, who warn him not to be so gosh-darned gullible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Felicien Tramel, (more)
- 1939
Filmed during the war, this little-known Fernandel vehicle finally attained an American release in 1951. The star plays Lavarede, an obnoxious braggart and spendthrift who falls heir to his uncle's fortune. But there's a condition to the will: in order to claim his uncle's millions, Lavarede must first spend three months travelling around the world with but five sous to his name. Reportedly, the film ran into censorship problems with the provisional German government. Whatever the case, existing prints of Les Cinq Sous de Lavarde are obviously incomplete, with co-star Josette Day's role sliced into near-nonexistence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josette Day, Fernandel, (more)
- 1938
Le Schpountz (Heartbeat) stars Fernandel as a feckless country boy named Saturnin. Convinced that he's a great lover (if only he could find someone to love), Saturnin is derisively labelled a "schpountz" by his friends and neighbors. He eventually proves that he's got a lot more compassion than anyone around him when his stepsister Angele (Orane Demaxis) returns home in disgrace with an illegitimate child in tow. "Le Schpountz" also surprises one and all when he makes good in the French movie industry! Director Marcel Pagnol uses the plot of this bucolic comedy drama to mercilessly drub his producers and their often questionable methods of raising production money. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Orane Demazis, (more)
- 1938
The inimitable Fernandel stars as Barnabe in this French musical farce. Most of the action takes place at a huge chateau, where Barnabe, the assistant to a big-time theatrical producer, has been assigned to stage a big show in honor of an upcoming society wedding. Thanks to series of bizarre misunderstandings, Barnabe is mistaken for the bridegroom, a Gallic nobleman whom no one -- not even the bride -- has ever seen. Confusion reigns supreme when the bride's true love shows up, also claiming to be the missing nobleman. Even after the final fadeout, the audience will have quite a time determining who ends up married to whom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paulette Dubost, Fernandel, (more)
- 1937
In this episodic French drama, a widow uncovers a 20-year-old dance card from a ball. Just for fun, she decides to find all of her former partners. Her search becomes the framework for the episodes. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Bell, Françoise Rosay, (more)
- 1937
Horse-faced Gallic comedian Fernandel plays Hercule in this tailor-made vehicle. Our hero is a somewhat simple-minded provincial lad, at large in wicked old Paris. Somehow, Hercule finds success in the world of newspaper journalism, where his talents are exploited by a crooked advertising executive (Jules Berry). Fortunately, Hercule can always depend upon the help and support of his secretary (Gaby Morlay) and her reporter boyfriend (Pierre Brasseur). Hercule was but one of seven Fernandel films to hit the screens in 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gaby Morlay, Nane Germon, (more)
- 1937
Originally Regain, this Marcel Pagnol masterwork was distributed in the US in 1939, two years after its completion; the hold-up was due to complaints from the New York censors, who disapproved of the plotline's harmlessly adulterous undertones. Told in a simple, straightforward fashion, the film deals with the trials and tribulations of peasant farmer Panturie (Gabriel Gabrio) and his lover, apprentice knife-grinder Arsule (Orane Demazis), as they struggle to revitalize their failing wheat farm. Despite one setback after another, Panturie and Arsule refuse to give up, and it is their devotion to their land-and each other-which sparks a revival of optimism and solidarity throughout the countryside. Fernandel provides wistful comedy relief as Gedemus, the itinerant knife-grinder to whom Arsule is married at the outset of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Edouard Delmont, (more)
- 1937
Originally released in 1937 as Francois 1er, Christian-Jacque's Francis the First didn't attain an American release for nearly a decade. Horse-faced farceur Fernandel plays Honorin, a failed provincial actor. Lacking self-confidence, Honorin turns to a carnival hypnotist for aid. While under hypnosis, he imagines that he's a 16th-century French cavalier in the court of King Francis the First. In the tradition of Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, our hero endears himself to the French aristocracy by teaching them 20th-century dances, expressions and card tricks. Along the way, Honorin romances King Francis' zaftig mistress (Mona Goya) and tangles with a troublesome ghost. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mona Goya, Alice Tissot, (more)
