La Tournée des grands Ducs (1953)
Directed by André Pellenc, Norbert Carbonnaux

Film Review

If La Tournee des grands Ducs has a plot, or something vaguely approximating to a plot, it's incredibly well concealed by the plethora of (mostly second rate) musical hall acts that take up most of the runtime.  It's supposed to be a comedy, but it struggles to raise so much as a grudging titter, such is the dismal quality of the script.  The screenwriter Norbert Carbonnaux took over the directing duties from André Pellenc but failed to salvage what was already a comedy misfire.  The one good thing to come out of the film was that Carbonnaux would re-employ Raymond Bussières and Christian Duvaleix on his next film, the somewhat more entertaining Les Corsaires du bois de Boulogne (1954).  More than a decade before he became a comedy legend, Louis de Funès shows up in a small role, stealing the film with effortless ease as he does so.  Carbonnaux may not have been a great director, but he recognised talent when he saw it - de Funès's talents would be put to good use in his subsequent comedy Courte Tête (1956).

Film Synopsis

Gaston, the son of the notary Fromageot, is in love with Brigitte, the daughter of a baroness.  Shortly after his arrival in Paris, he loses some money entrusted to him by the baroness and he ends up working in a cabaret to try to make good his loss.  Anxious over Gaston's long absence away from home, the notary, the baroness and Brigitte set out for the capital, unaware that Gaston is busy organising a festival...