Le Coq du régiment (1933)
Directed by Maurice Cammage

Film Review

Comic giant of French cinema Fernandel stars in this typical 1930s French farce, a conventional piece of vaudeville intended purely to entertain the masses.  Although both the plot and production values are pretty simplistic, if not to say absolutely shoddy, by today's standards, this kind of lowbrow comedy was enormously popular in its day.  Even though the unsophisticated storyline has no surprises, the film has retained some of its charm, and the fun lies not in the script, but in the eccentric, almost theatrical, performances from an instantly likeable cast.

Film Synopsis

Lavirette certainly lives up to his name ' le coq du régiment'.  Even before he donned his first uniform, he was always the most unrepentant of skirt-chasers, much to the annoyance of his wife.  With the threat of divorce looming, Lavirette realises he must change his ways, so he promises to become the most faithful of husbands, assuring his wife that she is the only woman he needs to make him happy.  But within just a few hours of making this declaration of fidelity the randy lieutenant is up to his old tricks again, throwing himself at another irresistible member of the opposite sex.  Lavriette comes to his senses - but too late.

By now the woman professes to be madly in love with him and will not let him go.  The only way out is for him to assume a false identity, and lead his lovelorn admirer to think he is Médard, a modest soldier who happens to be his oldest friend.  Lavriette may have got away with the ruse if he hadn't then had the misfortune of being mistaken for Médard by a more senior officer.  Thinking that Lavriette is a low-ranking soldier, the officer takes him on as his personal attendant, and from then on things become ever more muddled.  Lavriette's philandering has got him into very deep water, and this time it's not certain that he will ever get out of it...