Les Grandes vacances (1967) - film review

Monsieur Bosquier, the proprietor of a private school, is far from pleased when his eldest son, Philippe, fails his end of year exams.  He decides to send his wayward offspring to England to improve his English.  In exchange, Philippe’s host, a wealthy whisky distiller, Mac Farrel, will send his daughter, Shirley, to live with the Bosquiers in France.  However, Philippe has already decided to spend the summer holidays on a yacht with his friends, so he sends a fellow student, Michonnet, to England in his place.  The deception is soon discovered but things go from bad to worse when Philippe and Shirley fall in love and elope to Scotland to get married...

After a string of box office hits (not least of which were the early “ Gendarmes” films) director Jean Girault and comic actor Louis de Funès found further success with Les Grandes vacances, a typical 1960s farce which is mainly concerned with that French national pastime of sending up the English.  The film has little in the way of intellectual merit, consisting largely of overly milked improbable comic situations (including a madcap chase to Gretna Green), but, for all that, it still has an unfaltering capacity to make its audience laugh out loud.   In common with many of Jean Girault’s films, the comic genius lies not in the script but in its execution – more specifically, in De Funès’ immense talent as a comic performer.

The film amply illustrates Louis de Funès’ unerring ability to transform relatively mundane comic situations into feats of belt-bursting hilarity.  It also perhaps reveals his own personal insecurity, through his need to work with people he knew well (Jean Girault being a prime example of this).  Claude Gensac plays the part with which she is now most associated – De Funès’ long-suffering wife – whilst De Funès’ own son, Olivier, appears in one of his earliest acting jobs.

Tastes in comedy change over time, yet, whilst many 1960s comic films now appear dated and distinctly unsophisticated, Jean Girault’s films, despite their naivety and clumsy excesses, somehow remain appealing and largely entertaining – although this is almost entirely down to Louis de Funès extraordinary comic presence.   For all its faults, Les Grandes vacances is an appealing film – rambling, somewhat silly, but uplifting and great fun, especially for devotees of the great De Funès comic art.

© James Travers 2003

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?