Bourvil Movies
French actor/singer Bourvil (his professional name taken from the Bourville district of his native Normandy) was musically inclined from his youth, when he played trumpet in a municipal band. Developing his singing while in military service, Bourvil first stepped on stage in 1937 as an amateur entertainer, using the stage name "Andrel." By 1938 he had become a fixture of the French music halls with his signature song, "Ignace," and at the time of the Nazi occupation Bourvil was an established radio performer. Though popular, it took Bourvil a while to develop his own style and stop imitating his idol, Gallic comedian Fernandel. Bourvil made his screen debut in a tiny part in Croisieres siderales (1941), but officially his first film was La Ferme du Pendu, filmed in 1943 and released outside France in 1945. An established comic performer, Bourvil did more stage than film work in the 1950s, though he was memorable as Planchet in the 1953 French Les Trois Mousquetoris,- and, less lovably, as the nasty innkeeper in the 1956 version of Les Miserables. Comparatively unknown to American audiences, Bourvil was given a wonderful moment in the Hollywood-financed war epic The Longest Day (1962), in which as the Mayor of Colleville he effusively greets the invading allied troops at Normandy and offers his negligible services as a soldier. The last of Bourvil's English-language appearances was in another all-star spectacular, Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1946
A corrupt, lecherous farming son and the destruction he brings to his family is featured in this melodrama. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Vanel, Bourvil, (more)
- 1950
Mr. Peek-a-Boo may seem like a puerile title, but it is a lot more graspable to non-French audiences than the original Garou Garou Le Passe Muraille. Bourvil stars as a minor bureaucrat who finds himself the reluctant recipient of magical powers. He is actually able to walk through solid walls, which should be no surprise to those who read the novel on which the film is based, Marcel Ayme's The Man Who Walked Through Walls (truth in advertising!) He resists his friends' suggestions that he utilize his power to commit undetectable thefts, but changes his mind when he meets reluctant thief Joan Greenwood. The special effects by Henry Harris and Paul Raibaud are fairly elementary, but good for a few laughs as Bourvil constantly makes monkeys of the gendarmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Greenwood, Marcelle Arnold, (more)
- 1950
Miquette et sa Mere was the second of Henri-Georges Clouzot's directorial efforts of 1949. Co-scripted by Clouzot, this lighthearted film is easier to digest than the director's more celebrated mysteries and melodramas. Daniele Delorme plays Miquette, a winsome lass who aspires to be an actress. She runs off with a lascivious nobleman (Saturnin Fabre) who promises to make her a star. When Miquette's mother (Mirelle Perrey) searches for her wandering daughter, she finds the girl working with a ragtag touring company. The mother takes a job with the troupe, if for no other reason than to keep the lecherous nobleman away from Miquette. The film works best when re-creating the milieu of 19th-century provincial theatre; standing out in the proceedings is Louis Jouvet as Monchablon, the sort of actor for whom the word "ham" was invented. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Jouvet, Bourvil, (more)
- 1952
The title of this French low-comedy opus refers to a fancy, family-owned hotel. Village buffoon Hippolyte (Bourvil) hopes to inherit the hotel, but he's opposed by his crafty relatives. In order to qualify for the inheritance, Hippolyte is forced to enroll in grade school, from which he'd never graduated. Romance blossoms in the form of his sexy cousin Gavotte (Brigitte Bardot), but when Hippolyte learns that her interest in him is purely mercenary, he settles for good-hearted schoolmarm Madeline (Nadine Bassile). Le Trou Normand bears a remarkable resemblance to the 1985 Adam Sandler comedy Billy Madison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil, Nadine Basile, (more)
- 1952
Filmed in 1950 as Le Rosier de Madame Husson, The Prize was produced and scripted by Marcel Pagnol, of "The Marseilles Trilogy" fame. The plot is motivated by a contest, wherein a prize of 100,000 francs will be bestowed upon the most virtuous maiden in a tiny French village. Virtue being a scarce commodity hereabouts, the money is eventually claimed by a young man named Isidore (Bourvil). Once the farcical situation is played for all it's worth, the story segues into a comedy of errors, culminating in an episode in a faraway house of ill repute. The upshot of all this is that Isidore loses the crown of virtue almost as quickly as he won it. Jacqueline Pagnol, the wife of Marcel Pagnol, has an amusing role as a coquettish farm lass. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil
- 1953
Of the dozens of film versions of Dumas' The Three Musketeers, this 1953 film version is one of the few to remain faithful to the source. As always, the story begins when farm boy D'Artagnan (Georges Marschal) rides into Paris, intending to become a King's Musketeer. En route, he manages to offend Porthos (Gino Cervi), Athos (Jean Martinelli) and Aramis (Jacques Francois), challenging all three to a duel at the same time. The foursome eventually becomes fast friends, uniting against such common enemies as Cardinal Richelieu (Renaud Mary) and Milady DeWinter (Yvonne Sanson). The plot then segues into the efforts of the Musketeers to save the honor of Queen Anne. The film is stolen by Bourvil as D'Artagnan's slovenly lackey Placher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Georges Marchal, Gino Cervi, (more)
- 1954
The title of this French bedroom farce translates to A Fly in the Ointment. That "fly" is music-hall performer Lucette (Suzy Delair), the current girlfriend of rakish roue Bois D'Enghien (Noel-Noel). Preparing to marry into a wealthy and honorable family, Boris is bedeviled by Lucette, who refuses to break up their relationship. Her tune changes abruptly when a handsome millionaire enters the picture. Adapted from the stage play by George Feydeau, Un Fil a La Patte is all slamming doors, bedroom tete-a-tetes, and lines like "But mon cherie, I can explain everything!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noël-Noël, Suzy Delair, (more)
- 1954
Sacha Guitry's Si Versailles M'Etait Conte (If Versailles Were Told to Me) is best known by its American title Royal Affairs in Versailles. In addtion to writing and directed the film, Guitry reserves for himself the plum role of Louis XIV. Concentrating on the palace of Versailles over a period of 300 years, the storyline concentrates on the various amorous and political intrigues of three French kings. The plot manages to wend its way through the French revolution, coming to a halt in "the present". The star-studded supporting cast includes Jean Marais as Louis XV, Claudette Colbert as Mme. Montespan, Micheline Presle as Mme. Pompadour, and, best of all, Orson Welles as a gouty Ben Franklin. Most currently available prints of Si Versailles M'Etait Conte are severely edited, and fail to do justice to the rich Eastmancolor hues of the original version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Michel Auclair, (more)
- 1954
The Gallic swashbuckler Cadet-Rousselle stars Francois Perrier in the title role. In love with the mayor's daughter, Rousselle is separated from her by money and by his low-born parentage. He heads off to Paris, there to find fame and fortune and make himself worthy of his sweetheart. En route, however, Cadet-Rousselle gets mixed up with a band of gypsies who plan to help the Royalists topple the New French Republic. Adventure piles upon adventure as Rousselle narrows escapes death at every turn. With him all the way is the new love of his life, fiery gypsy lass Violetta (Dany Robin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil, François Perier, (more)
- 1956
The French/Italian Four Bags Full stars Jean Gabin as an aging artist, ever on the prowl for excitement. The time is World War II, and the place is occupied France. Timorous cab driver Gabin finagles Bourvil into transporting four suitcases full of precious pork through Paris, under the noses of the Nazi officials. While the film is not technically a comedy, there are several nervously amusing moments as the mismatched Gabin and Bourvil wend their way across the City of Light. Adapted from a novel by Marcel Ayme, Four Bags Full was originally released as La Traversee de Paris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil, Jean Gabin, (more)
- 1958
Un Drole de Dimanche (What a Sunday) stars Danielle Darrieux as Catherine and Bourvil as her ex-husband Jean. By chance, Catherine and Jean are reunited five years after she walked out of his life. In a fit of romantic nostalgia, Jean mentally reconstructs the events that led up to their separation. He then determines to win her back, certain that he'll never, ever make the same mistakes again? or will he? Listed fifth in the cast of Un Drole de Dimanche is a young sprout named Jean Belmondo, who as Jean-Paul Belmondo would burst onto the international film scene in Godard's Breathless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Bourvil, (more)
- 1958
Victor Hugo's monumental novel Les Miserables has been filmed so often that sometimes it's hard to tell one version from another. One of the best and most faithful adaptations is this 240-minute French production, starring Jean Gabin as the beleagured Jean Valjean. Arrested for a petty crime, Valjean spends years 20 in the brutal French penal system. Even upon his release, his trail is dogged by relentless Inspector Javert (Bernard Blier). Valjean's efforts to create a new life for himself despite the omniprescence of Javert is meticulously detailed in this film, which utilizes several episodes from the Hugo original that had hitherto never been dramatized. Originally released as a single film, Les Miserables was usually offered as a two-parter outside of France. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Bernard Blier, (more)
- 1958
With Mirror Has Two Faces (Miroir a Deux Faces), French director Andre Cayatte takes a respite from his usual broadsides against the iniquities of the French judicial system. Michele Morgan stars as a plain, middle-aged woman, miserably unhappy with her go-nowhere existence. She submits to plastic surgery, and as the years are cosmetically removed she vows to alter her life. The first major change is in her relationship with her self-involved schoolmaster husband (Bourvil). Where once he'd taken Morgan for granted, the husband now reacts with lunatic jealousy whenever anyone comes near her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Bourvil, (more)
- 1959
This well-acted-though routine wartime drama is the second such film in a row for young Jean Claude Brialy, who plays a member of one of two families who are experiencing the effects of the German Occupation. In general, both morals and morale have declined in the families so that a lonely married woman whose husband is in a prison camp is willing to have an affair with a 17-year-old youth. But beyond that indiscretion, her need for money in a tight economy drives her to get the young man involved in the lucrative black market. Meanwhile, the father of the indiscreet youth finds out what his son is doing and although he has been an ineffectual parent, he tries to lay down the law to his son. Unfortunately, the law at this time seems to be on vacation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil, Alain Delon, (more)
