Le Fou du labo 4 is a French comedy thriller film first released in 1967, directed by Jacques Besnard.  The film is based on a novel by René Cambon and stars Jean Lefebvre, Maria Latour, Bernard Blier, Pierre Brasseur and Michel Serrault.  It has also been released under the title: The Madman of Lab Four.  Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.


When research scientist Eugène Ballanchon invents a gas that renders its unsuspecting victims calm and amiable, his boss Granger immediately realises its potential for military use.  Unfortunately, so does the notorious gangster Beauchard, who intends to steal the secret formula for the gas and sell it to a foreign power.  To that end, the beautiful agent Maria Latour is engaged to seduce Eugène and lure him into Beauchard’s clutches…

Intended presumably as a parody of the gangster thrillers that were increasingly popular in the 1960s, Le Fou du labo 4 ends up as rather confused run-around comedy which looks (as improbable as it may sound) like a cross-between The Avengers and The High Chaparral (two of the most popular TV series of the 1960s).  The director was Jacques Besnard, who is perhaps best known for directing Le Grand restaurant (1966), a successful Louis de Funès comedy.   There are some good jokes along the way, but the chaotic plot and ridiculous characters reduce the film to the level of a muddled piece of second rate pantomime.   Jean Lefebvre is miscast and fails to engage in the lead role of the hapless professor, Bernard Blier looks slightly absurd parodying his own parody from Les Tontons flingeurs (1963), and Michel Serrault is criminally underused.   The only participant to emerge from this seriously camped-up madness with his reputation still more or less intact is Pierre Brasseur, an actor who manages to shine in the grimmest of situations.

© James Travers 2007

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