Film Review
André Berthomieu put his name to quite a few lousy comedies but
few are lousier than
Cinq millions
comptant, a flagrant and pretty lame attempt to cash in on the
craze for radio-film tie-ins that invaded French cinema in the 1950s
like a bad attack of shingles (only far more irritating).
Cent francs par seconde (1953)
at least has the virtue of being based on an existing radio show;
Berthomieu's film is a weak imitation that no basis in reality.
In fact, the film derives from a popular operetta entitled
Monsieur Bourgogne written by
Francis Lopez and Raymond Vincy in 1949. Helped by a risible
script, Berthomieu had an easy job destroying the film, such was the
blithe lack of finesse and artistry that was evident in his later years.
The cast-list immediately cautions the spectator against expecting too
much. Jane Sourza is the brightest talent on offer, a
larger-than-life comedienne made famous by her popular radio show
Sur le banc which was itself made
into a
successful film in 1954.
By the time she appeared in
Cinq
millions comptant, Sourza was past her prime and had difficulty
finding film roles worthy of her talents. Ded Rysel is likewise
another popular comic performer of the time whose best days were behind
him. His scenes with Sourza are by far the most enjoyable, the
highpoint being Sourza's attempt to dance the
cha-cha-cha. The prospect of
a Sourza-Rysel pairing isn't so grim, but then someone decided to
throw in Darry Cowl, the 'actor' associated with more French film
turkeys than perhaps any other person who lived.
Cowl's (totally inexplicable) popularity with the public ensured he was
rarely out of work, although you'd have to be a masochist to enjoy his
idea of comedy. Cowl sinks the film as effortlessly as he sinks
just about every other film he appeared in, but in
Cinq millions comptant he is at his
most aggravating. (One theory is that God created Darry Cowl
simply to make Jerry Lewis look good.) Berthomieu's obvious lack
of enthusiasm for the film is evident in just about every shot, most of
which have the actors lined up in a row like ducks in a shooting
gallery. Anyone who can sit through this dross without garrotting
himself in the process deserves some kind of award, ideally an
operation, paid for by the French state, to remove every last trace of
Darry Cowl from his consciousness.
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Virginie Gerbois runs a school for young girls in the village of
Chatenay-sous-cloche, totally oblivious to the fact that her husband
Achille is leading a double life. When he is away in Paris,
Achille Gerbois adopts the guise of Monsieur Bourgogne, the presenter
of a popular radio game show called
Five
Million and Counting. All that the contestant has to do to
win the prize is to answer five questions correctly, each in under a
minute. Unfortunately, the questions are so difficult that no one
has yet won the prize, much to the annoyance of the show's
sponsors. Virginie intends that her daughter Arlette will marry
her nephew Philémon, but Arlette has already lost her heart to
another man, the singer André Dargent, and Philémon is
more concerned with finding a nurse to take care of the baby he is
carrying around in his suitcase. The answer to everyone's
problems is for Philémon to take part in the famous game show,
at which point Monsieur Gerbois's carefully kept secret risks being let
out of the bag...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.