Ah! Les belles bacchantes (1954) - film review

Theatre director Robert Dhéry is rehearsing his new show "Ah ! Les belles bacchantes", which is a mixture of dance, beauty parades and mad-cap comedy.   Alerted by the show’s title, Commissaire Leboeuf goes along to the rehearsal to see whether it contains anything too risqué. Robert mistakes him for a comic performer and offers him a role in his show...

This film is an adaptation of Robert Dhéry’s very popular 1950s musical hall extravaganza, "Ah ! Les belles bacchantes" which starred the famous troupe, Les Branquignols.  Throughout the film there is a feeling of energy and fun, which conveys a real sense of music hall from this period.  A huge cast, with some very talented performers, and the fact that full use is made of the colour photography, makes this a visually stunning piece of cinema.

It is, however, probably fair to say that the film has not dated well.  To a modern cinema audience, there would be much to criticise: lengthy beauty parades, repetitive prat falls, inept musicians – the stock in trade of the French music hall, but not what we would now consider high entertainment by today’s standards.

However, the film manages to redeem itself with some unpredictable – and outrageously funny – comic moments.  Louis de Funès, one of France’s legendary comic actors, has plenty of opportunity to delve into his comic repertoire, supported by another comic luminary, Colette Brosset, who also choreographed the film’s dance sequences.  Also watch out for Michel Serrault in his first screen role – he has a non-speaking part as an retarded, inept musician.

© James Travers 2000

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