Summary
When his wife discovers that he has spent the night away from home, Pierre has to act
fast to prevent her finding out about his mistress. He hires a complete stranger
to provide him with the perfect alibi, but the stranger soon turns out to have committed
a household robbery on the night in question. Arrested for complicity in the robbery,
Pierre sinks further into the mire when the woman he is accused of raping identifies him
as her aggressor.
Review
Some ebullient performances make this rather convoluted farce entertaining – watch out
for Louis de Funès in one of his early supporting roles. As usual, the narrative
is driven by a seemingly endless series of improbable mix-ups of identity, but some of
the jokes are actually quite good. The film’s highpoint is the hilarious sequences
where the investigating judge and his entourage attempt to identify a love bite on a witness’
upper thigh – you wouldn’t find that kind of thing in an American film of this period.
© James Travers 2006
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© James Travers 2006
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Useful links
- Best French films of 2011
- Best French films of the 2000s
- Best of the French New Wave
- Best of French film comedy
- The best 100 French films
- The most successful French films
- Great French filmmakers
Related links
- Other French films of the 1950s
- The best French films of the 1950s
- Other French comedies
- The best French comedies
- Biography and films of Jean Laviron
To buy this film
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Credits
- Director: Jean Laviron
- Script: Jean Guitton, Jean Laviron
- Photo: Roger Dormoy
- Music: Daniel White
- Cast: Henri Génès (Pierre Montabrel), Liliane Bert (Gisèle), Julien Carette (Tellier), Maurice Régamey (Jacques Lambert), Félix Oudart (Le chanoine Clément), Lili Bontemps (Monique), Simone Paris (Véronique de St-Hilaire), Louis de Funès (Lorette, le greffier), Josselin (Maître Nivert), Albert Rémy (Henri), Frédéric Bart (L’inspecteur Perrini)
- Country: France
- Language: French
- Runtime: 90 min; B&W
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Comedy






