Le Diable par la queue (1969) - film review

A family of aristocrats have fallen on hard times.  To pay for repairs to their crumbling country chateau they are forced to use their home as a hotel.  The local garage mechanic, Charlie, provides a constant stream of guests for them by sabotaging any car that arrives in his garage.  The latest arrival is an important-looking man, César Maricorne, accompanied by his two aides.  When she learns that he is a gangster who has just robbed a bank, the aging Marquise realises that her family’s financial worries may be at an end…

Yves Montand shows great promise as a comic performer in this entertaining farce from Philippe de Broca.   As is fairly typical of popular French comedies of this period, the film’s charm lies much more in the idiosyncratic performances of its stars than in its script or direction.  Although Montand’s presence dominates the film, there are pleasing – and downright eccentric – contributions from his co-stars, notably Jean-Pierre Marielle, Maria Schell, Marthe Keller and the indispensable Madeleine Renaud.

© James Travers 2004

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