Film Review
It was on the back of the success of
Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez
in 1964 that Louis de Funès became a huge comedy star in France and
proved to be a consistent box office winner for the next fifteen years.
A film that notched up an audience of 7.8 million was bound to have at least
one follow-up, but what actually came along were four sequels, all phenomenally
successful. After
Le
Gendarme à New York (1965),
Le gendarme se marie (1968)
and
Le Gendarme en balade
(1970), it seemed that the series had run its course, and when a planned
fifth film
Le Gendarme à l'exercice was shelved after de Funès's
heart attack in 1975, it looked as if we had seen the last of Cruchot and
his ineffectual gendarme chums.
But no, nine years after their fourth wacky outing, the gendarmes returned
with a vengeance - as well as some incredibly dodgy special effects - in
an outrageous spoof of Steven Spielberg's sci-fi hit
Close Encounters
of the Third Kind (1977). By the late 1970s, science-fiction
had suddenly become the in-thing as a result of the success of Spielberg's
film and a certain George Lucus offering named
Star Wars (1977), but being unable
to compete with such effects-heavy extravaganzas, the best the French could
do was to resort to burlesque parody. Director Henri Lanoë had
already set a good precedent for this with his 1967 comedy
Ne jouez pas avec les
Martiens (1967).
Le Gendarme et les extra-terrestres offers a close encounter of an
altogether funnier kind to the one offered by Spielberg in his opulent blockbuster
(which incidentally featured a certain icon of French cinema, François
Truffaut, in a leading role). Some of the regulars from the series
have disappeared or unaccountably altered their appearance (unable to reprise
the role of Cruchot's wife Claude Gensac was replaced at the last minute
by Maria Mauban), but Louis de Funès is back in fine form, ably supported
by his superlative comedy foil Michel Galabru. The film offers the
comic genius ample opportunity to indulge in his own brand of outlandish
comedy, whether he is dressing up as a nun or happily slapping semi-naked
tourists to find out whether they are aliens or not.
With both sci-fi and de Funès proving to be massive box office draws
in the late '70s,
Le Gendarme et les extra-terrestres could hardly
fail to have been a massive hit. With its audience of 6.3 million,
it was the most successful French film of the year, a feat that three of
the earlier
Gendarme films had achieved. With the lead actor's
health already in decline, this was to be the last occasion when he topped
the box office in France. Not long after completing work on the final
film in the series,
Le
Gendarme et les Gendarmettes (1982), de Funès was snatched
away from us, not by aliens, but by a fatal heart attack.
© James Travers 2001
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Jean Girault film:
L'Avare (1980)
Film Synopsis
On his home turf of St-Tropez, Cruchot is out on routine patrols with his
latest recruit Beaupied when his jeep suddenly breaks down. As his superior
struggles to repair the immobilised vehicle, Beaupied wanders off towards a clearing and
is dumbstruck by the sight of the strange object in front of him: a flying saucer!
He fails to convince Cruchot or any of his fellow gendarmes of what he
has seen, but not long afterwards the same thing happens to Cruchot.
The latter's fears that an alien invasion is imminent are given
further substance when, late one night, he encounters one of the
extra-terrestrials in the police headquarters. Although he has adopted the
physical appearance of Cruchot's superior Gerbier the alien gives himself away
by imbibing oil and sounding like a tin can when struck on the back.
Mistaking the real Gerbier and his colonel for aliens, Cruchot gets
himself arrested, but he escapes with the help of a friendly nun, Marie
Clotilde. Now convinced that the aliens' intentions for mankind are
far from peaceful, Cruchot must now prove to his superiors that they
have arrived in St-Tropez and are already starting to infiltrate
both the gendarmerie and the tourist population of the town...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.