Barnabé (1938) - film review

Barnabé, a simple provençal flute-player, arrives in Paris but has difficulty getting work.  A cousin finds a job for him, organising an evening party for Madame Petit-Durand to celebrate her daughter’s twentieth birthday.  When he arrives at château Petit-Durand, Barnabé is mistaken for the Count Paul de Marengo, the young man whom Madame Petit-Durand hopes will marry her daughter.  All is well until Mademoiselle Petit-Durand’s true sweetheart, André, turns up at the château, just before the real Paul de Marengo appears.  Meanwhile, Barnabé has fallen in love with Rose, Petit-Durand’s maid, the daughter of the a country policeman who has become his mortal enemy...

Barnabé is a convoluted yet nevertheless entertaining farce of the kind that was very popular in France in the 1930s.  With its mocking yet affectionate view of the aristocracy, complicated romantic liaisons, and larger than life comic characters, the story is pure P.G. Wodehouse, and just as funny.  However, what really brings the film to life is an extraordinary physical performance from Fernandel, France’s leading comic actor at the time.

As in many of his early films, Fernandel breaks into song at the most unlikely moments.  This includes his show-stopping rendition of the film’s title song, Barnabé, which went on to become a popular song in its own right.  A magnificent blend of slapstick and vaudeville, this is a film which has much to commend it, even if the plot is a little overly complicated and rushed.

© James Travers 2000

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