Oscar (1967) - film review

One morning, a wealthy business man Bertrand Barnier receives a visit from one of his employees, Christian Martin, who demands both his daughter’s hand in marriage and a substantial pay rise.  When Barnier refuses, Christian reveals that he has embezzled a small fortune from the company’s funds, with which he has bought a suitcase full of jewels.  When Christian offers to hand over the suitcase, Barnier agrees to the marriage, without realising that Martin’s girlfriend is not really his daughter at all, but a poor girl who is just pretending that Barnier is her father.  Before he discovers the truth, Barnier learns that his real daughter is pregnant, by his ex-chauffeur Oscar who has just set off for a polar expedition.  Eager to avoid a scandal, Barnier attempts to bribe Christian into marrying his real daughter...

Based on a hugely popular stage play, which ran for over 600 performances in Paris (and which also starred Louis de Funès), Oscar is a good example of the kind of comic farce which has always delighted French cinema audiences.  Although the plot is excruciatingly complicated in places, the film is generally well-written and offers some brilliant comic moments.

The film’s strongest selling point is the remarkable comic performance from Louis de Funès, who shows beyond any doubt why he is rated as one of France’s greatest comic geniuses.  The face-stretching frenzied comedian is in his element in a part which looks suspiciously as if it were written exclusively for him.  The film was directed by Edouard Molinaro, who is perhaps best known for his subsequent film adaptation of another successful French play, La Cage aux folles .

The inevitable American re-make came in 1991, a film of the same title, directed by John Landis, with – wait for it – Sylvester Stallone in the role played by Louis de Funès.  Evidently, this was a very different kind of film...

© James Travers 2002

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