Film Review
After
Coiffeur pour dames (1952) and
Le Couturier de ces dames (1956),
Le Confident de ces dames
completes a loose trilogy of films, directed by Jean Boyer, in which
Fernandel plays a likeable professional whose healing hands have an
irresistible allure for women of all persuasions. Filmed in
Italy, the film sees Fernandel sharing the limelight with some
well-known Italian actors, notably the rising starlet Sylva Koscina,
who found fame through a series of spy thrillers and historical epics,
and Ugo Tognazzi, one of Italian cinema's foremost comic actors.
This was Tognazzi's first outing in a French film; he is better known
for his outrageous turns in
La Grande bouffe (1973) and
La Cage aux folles (1978).
Denise Grey, who began her illustrious career way back in the silent
era, appears uncannily at ease in Fernandel's mad-cap universe and very
nearly steals the show, facing down even Ugo Tognazzi in the charisma
and comedy stakes.
By the late 1950s, Fernandel's career was distinctly on the wane.
Le Confident de ces dames was
just one in a long line of his films that was both mauled by the
critics and failed spectacularly at the box office. Although the
actor's fortunes would be spectacularly reversed with his next film,
La Vache et le prisonnier
(1959) (which attracted an audience of over 8 million), most critics
were happy to write Fernandel off as a worn-out has-bean. No one
could mistake
Le Confident de ces
dames for a classic of French cinema, but it is a sprightly
little comedy that is buoyed up by the entertaining contributions of
its lead actors. The chaotic plot is redeemed by some highly
amusing comic situations, which occasionally take a turn for the
surreal - notably the sequence in which the town's afflicted resort to
seeking medical advice from Fernandel via the intermediary of their
pets. Oddly, the film probably has more relevance today than when
it was first seen, since it can easily be read as a mordant
satire on the cult of the celebrity.
© James Travers 2011
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Jean Boyer film:
Les Croulants se portent bien (1961)
Film Synopsis
Owing to a shortage of doctors, the inhabitants of the little Italian
town Figuerol look to their veterinary Julien Goberti to treat their
ailments as well as those of their pets. Even when a qualified
doctor, Maria Bonifaci, arrives in the town, the locals still prefer
the healing touch of Julien. Unable to attract clients of
her own, Maria soon becomes jealous of Julien's popularity and takes
steps to undermine him, without success. When Julien successfully
cures an international star, the world media descends on the town and
the modest vet becomes an instant celebrity...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.