Auguste
1961 Comedy   
 
Credits
  • Director: Pierre Chevalier
  • Script: Raymond Castans, Pierre Chevalier, Raymond Castans (play)
  • Photo: Marcel Grignon
  • Music: Franck Barcellini
  • Cast: Fernand Raynaud (Auguste), Valérie Lagrange (Françoise), Jean Poiret (Georges Flower), Roger Carel (Albert, le beau-frère), Palau (Boyer de l'Ain), Simone Berthier (La servante d'Auguste), Paul Préboist (Dupont), Ingrid Bergman (Cameo appearance), Christian Brocard, Claudia Cardinale (Cameo appearance), André Chanu (Le ministre), Luc Charpentier, Hubert Deschamps (Le récitant), Pierre Flourens (Le directeur de la banque), Michel Salina (Le directeur de l'agence)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Runtime: 90 min; B&W
  • Aka: Kolka, My Friend
 
 
 
Summary
Modest bank clerk Auguste Roussel finds himself on the front page of every news paper in the land when, one day, he jumps into the Seine to save a young woman from drowning.  Unbeknown to him, the woman in question is aspiring film star and publicity seeker Françoise, a.k.a. Marylyn Wood, who was staging a fake suicide and rescue attempt to earn herself a place on the cover of a glossy magazine.   Her agent, the Machiavellian publicist Flauvert, decides to use Auguste’s newfound fame to their mutual advantage…

Review
Popular comic actor Fernand Raynaud gives an ebullient performance in this light-hearted satire on the cult of the celebrity and art of media manipulation – and is just as relevant today (perhaps more so) than it was when the film was made.  Some of the jokes and situations are a tad predictable, but the comedy is generally well played, with some memorable contributions from Jean Poiret (the scheming publicist) and the delightful Fernand Raynaud.

© James Travers 2006


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