Le Jardinier d'Argenteuil (1966)
Directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois

Film Review

Director Jean-Paul Le Chanois concluded his mostly impressive work for this cinema with this engaging but somewhat anodyne comedy, the last of his three collaborations with the iconic screen actor Jean Gabin. Previously, Gabin had taken the lead in Le Chanois's period blockbuster Les Misérables (1958) and another light comedy, Monsieur (1964). With the actor comfortably into his seventh decade he appears more at home in this gentle kind of comedy than in the brutal crime dramas that more often came his way around this time - films such as Le Pacha (1968) and Le Clan des Siciliens (1969).

As well as Gabin, the film features several other prolific actors in the last leg of their illustrious careers - Noël Roquevert, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, Alfred Adam, Jean Tissier and Rellys. Thankfully, there are some camera-friendly youngsters (including the delightful Liselotte Pulver) to prevent this from looking like an oldsters' reunion. Curd Jürgens is a surprising addition to the cast (he is not an actor you would expect to show up in a low-key French comedy) although the main treat is the legendary singer Serge Gainsbourg in one of his earliest credited screen roles - he also contributed to the music, as he would subsequently do on Le Pacha. Le Jardinier d'Argenteuil is not the most memorable of Gabin's films, but it allowed the actor to portray a character on screen that was nearer to his own. The film is effectively a simple anti-consumerist fable that reminds us that true fulfilment comes from things other than material comfort and the selfish pursuit of pleasure.

Film Synopsis

Monsieur Martin, known as Tulipe, is an old man who lives alone in an old railway carriage in the Argentueil region of Paris.  His main passions are gardening and oil painting, but he also has a secret source of income.  His godson discovers that Tulipe is actually a master forger, producing perfect copies of 10 franc notes.  His godson's girlfriend sees this as an opportunity to get very rich - but she must persuade Tulipe to forge 500 franc notes.  Assuming Tulipe's agreement, his godson and his girlfriend buy an expensive new car and luxury villa in provincial France - but there is a cruel turn of fate in store for them when Tulipe strikes up a friendship with a millionaire playboy…