Le Fil à la patte (1955) - film review

Count Fernand de Bois d’Enghien is determined to marry Viviane, the daughter of the wealthy Madame du Verger.  Before he can do this, however, he must first extricate himself from another romantic entanglement, one involving a singer named Lucette Gauthier.  Realising that Urugua, a South American general, is in love with Lucette, Fernand sees an opportunity to achieve his aims.  Unfortunately, Urugua is a man of honour and Fernand ’s efforts to free himself from Lucette seem doomed to failure...
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium)

Despite its prestigious cast and fairly impressive production values, this adaptation of Georges Feydeau’s popular 1894 play falls somewhat short of its comic potential and is more of a curiosity piece than a classic.  Director Guy Lefranc’s lacklustre mise-en-scène (which shows a bizarre affinity with confined spaces and using only a minute fraction of the screen) puts an almost insuperable damper on the proceedings - as it did on his previous, equally disappointing adaptation of Jules Romains’s Knock (1951).  Fortunately the film boasts a high calibre cast who rise to the challenge and salvage what might otherwise have been a truly dismal offering, mainly through a combination of charisma and eccentricity.  The moral: the best insurance against mediocre screenwriting and direction is a cast that the audience can’t help falling in love with, plus a few decent musical numbers.

Le Fil à la patte brings together some major stars of contemporary French music hall  - Noël-Noël, Suzy Delair and Bourvil - as well as some notable character actors of the period - Henri Guisol, Gabrielle Dorziat and Henri Crémieux.  So, whatever other failings the film may have, it is certainly not lacking in the character department.   Noël-Noël is on particularly ebullient form and relishes his role as a kind of upper-crust Don Juan - he ends up looking like a curious hybrid of the older Chaplin and the younger Peter Sellers, and gives what is possibly his funniest performance in this film.  As he wrote the screenplay, Noël-Noël naturally gives himself the best jokes.  These include a memorable sequence in which he tries (hopelessly) to conduct an orchestra, just managing to stay one or two beats behind the musicians (and their audience) as he does so.  His frantic attempts to prevent his mistress from seeing an incriminating newspaper announcement are also amusing, the closest the film gets to capturing the spirit of Feydeau’s original play.

The film’s other delight is Suzy Delair, whose vocal and histrionic talents are put to good use in a role that appears to have been tailor-made for her (although not as well-cut as her amazing costumes).  Although Delair’s hugely successful career had started its rapid decline by this time, she still had what it took to bring a film to life and she effortlessly irradiates every scene she appears in, like a huge incandescent light.  Her character may be a pale imitation of the one she played in Clouzot’s Quai des Orfèvres (1947) (the highpoint of her film career), but Delair puts enough charm and gusto into her performance to make her the centre of attention, and rightly so.  When it comes to glamour and charisma in 1950s French cinema, Suzy Delair was in a class of her own.

Another notable performer, struggling and only just managing to snatch his fair share of the limelight, is Bourvil, a rising star with the most engaging personality who would shortly become one of the most popular film comedians in France.   Bourvil fans will doubtless lament the fact that he has very little to do in the film, other than take his trousers down and serve as a feed for Noël-Noël, a thankless job if ever there was one.  Still, Bourvil’s presence is a welcome addition to a colourful ensemble and makes this a more enjoyable film than it might otherwise have been.  It’s not the most vibrant interpretation of a Feydeau farce, but the laughs are there if you have the patience to sit and wait for them to show up.

© James Travers 2011

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