Film Review
The third and mercifully final entry in Robert Lamoureux's
Septième
compagnie trilogy fails to revive the winning formula of the previous
two instalments and mostly falls flat for want of a decent narrative and
comic content amounting to more than a few spluttering gags.
La
Septième compagnie au clair de lune was Lamoureux's swansong as
a director - he had first taken up the directorial baton in 1960 with
Ravissante, having found fame as
an actor, most notably in Jean-Paul Le Chanois's stupendously popular comedy
Papa, Maman, la Bonne et
moi (1954).
Mais où est donc passée la septième compagnie
(1973) and
On a retrouvé la septième compagnie (1975)
both benefited from a resurgence in popularity of the military comedy genre
in France in the early 1970s, following hot on the heels of the success of
the Charlots'
Les Bidasses en
folie (1971). Both films attracted just under four million
spectators. The third entry in the series barely notched up an audience
of 0.8 million and was considered a flop, not surprisingly as it ditched
most of the ingredients that made the first two films so appealing - including
the ensemble cast and hilariously botched wartime manoeuvres.
As for the earlier films, Lamoureux shared the screenwriting duties with
Jean-Marie Poiré, who embarked on his own directing career around
this time, debuting with an engaging little comedy entitled
Les Petits câlins.
After this, Poiré went on to achieve massive box office success in
the 1980s and '90s, helming some of the all-time classics of mainstream French
comedy - including
Papy
fait de la résistance (1983) - a far better wartime comedy
than any of the
7th Company films - and
Les Visiteurs (1993).
Even with such an impressive cast line-up as Pierre Mondy, Jean Lefebvre,
Jean Carmet and Gérard Jugjnot, Poiré and Lamoureux struggle
to come up with more than a handful of tired gags and ludicrously strained
comic situations. The result looks like a series of bad episodes of
'Allo, 'Allo lazily strung together without any real enthusiasm.
There are a few tantalising moments when it looks as if inspiration is about
to strike (most memorable is a quayside silent comedy sequence), but these
are soon cruelly extinguished by feeble gushes of limp humour and general
inept silliness.
© James Travers 2004
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Robert Lamoureux film:
La Brune que voilà (1960)
Film Synopsis
With France now under German occupation, the members of the ill-fated 7th
Company make a belated return to civilian life and it would appear that their
wartime escapades are finally at an end. Ex-Sergeant Major Chaudard
once again takes up the reins of his ironmongers store, assisted by his wife
Suzanne, whilst trying to stay on good terms with the local police chief,
Lambert. Chaudard invites his two former comrades in the 7th company
Tassin and Pithivier to stay with him for a few days, not knowing that his
wife and her brother, Gorgeton, are sheltering a leading member of the French
Resistance in his storeroom. If Lambert gets to hear of this he is
likely to be arrested and executed! Whilst out hunting rabbits one
evening, Chaudard and his two former subordinates manage to get themselves
caught up in a resistance operation. To avoid being shot by German
patrols, the three men make a hasty break for the Breton coast...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.