La Bonne étoile (1943)
Directed by Jean Boyer

Film Review

One of the most prolific and commercially successful mainstream film directors of the 1930s and '40s, Jean Boyer was a master when it came to delivering entertaining lowbrow fare for the masses, aided and abetted by some of the biggest names of the day - Arletty, Michel Simon and, of course, Fernandel.  The latter's comedic talents were put to good use in La Bonne étoile, a light undemanding mix of comedy and melodrama that, with its Provençal setting, has more than a touch of Marcel Pagnol's about it.  In fact, critics of the time were quick to point out obvious similarities with Pagnol's earlier film Angèle (1934), in which Fernandel and his frequent co-star Andrex had played virtually identical roles.  The presence of Pagnol regular Édouard Delmont only reinforces the impression that this is conscious partial remake.

Of course, Boyer's superficial comedy isn't a patch on Pagnol's classic drama but, whilst sorely lacking in emotional depth, it is mildly diverting and allows Fernandel to please audiences in the kind of role for which he was naturally best suited - the sympathetic good-natured loser.  Whilst not as entertaining as other Boyer-Fernandel collaborations - such as L'Acrobate (1941) and Le Couturier de ces dames (1956) - La Bonne étoile makes for a pleasing timewaster.  If nothing else, its simple tale of love lost and regained doubtless provided a welcome escape for cinemagoers living under Nazi occupation.

Film Synopsis

Auguste, known to his friends as Guste, ekes out a modest living as a fisherman in a small Mediterranean port in the south of France.  He has lost his heart to Mireille, the niece of his friend, the ageing seadog Baptistin. Alas, Guste's love proves to be tragically unrequited, for Mireille only has eyes for Maurice Carrissol, the handsome playboy son of a successful wholesaler in Marseille.  Maurice likes nothing better than to flirt with his many female admirers but he has no intention of settling down and starting a family yet.   When the errant playboy realises just how hopelessly Mireille is in love with him he takes flight and returns to Marseille.

Abandoned by her lover, Mireille becomes disconsolate, and this provokes Guste into undertaking the trek to Marseille to look for Maurice and persuade him to return and marry the girl who worships him.  Nothing would please the modest fisherman more than to be the instrument of a happy union between Mireille and the man she loves.  Unfortunately, on his arrival in Marseille Guste soon discovers the truth about his philandering rival.  Unable to reveal to Mireille that she has been deceived by a good-for-nothing Don Juan, he does his best to maintain the fiction that one day Maurice will return to her...