Le Permis de conduire (1974)
Directed by Jean Girault

Film Review

It is interesting to speculate how director Jean Girault's career would have fared if he had not had the good fortune to work with a comic colossus of the stature of Louis de Funès, who starred in the majority of his films.   Le Permis de conduire, one of the few films Girault made that was not fronted by de Funès, or indeed any big name actor, leaves us in no doubt that Girault was a mediocre film director who struck lucky.  His one strength was that he gave his most talented performers free reign to maximise the comic potential of his films, but in those films of his where there is a deficit of talent on the acting front, he was seriously exposed and in danger of turning out a Grade A turkey.

Scripted by Girault's faithful long-term collaborator, Jacques Vilfrid, Le Permis de conduire starts with a promising premise but too quickly degenerates into a series of predictable and hackneyed comic situations, most of which appear to have been copied wholesale from other films of this period.  As the lead actor, Louis Velle does a reasonable job at holding it all together, but what the film needs is a more charismatic and amusing comic actor to prevent the recycled gags from falling flat all the time.  The lacklustre cast merely highlights the dearth of original ideas in the script and whilst the film is momentarily funny in parts, it is a chore to sit through.  The one reward for watching the film is an unexpected cameo appearance by New Wave director Claude Chabrol - it is as surprising as Alfred Hitchcock suddenly popping up in a Confessions or Carry On film.  Le Permis de conduire may be the cinematic equivalent of a motorway pileup but it was a massive hit at the French box office in 1974, attracting an audience of 2.3 million.  But then, dangerous driving is a national pastime in France...

Film Synopsis

Michel Martenot, a modest bank employee in the suburbs of Paris, has a chronic aversion to cars.  Despite being pressurised by his wife, two children and his interfering brother-in-law, he has no desire to learn how to drive.  But when Michel is promoted to a manager position at a branch in the centre of Paris, he has no choice but to take his driving test.  He turns out to be such a bad motorist that he has no chance of passing his test, but he manages to save face when another hopeless driver, an attractive woman who somehow lures him into bed with her, gives him a fake licence.  All is well until Michel comes across a pregnant woman who is on the point of giving birth in the street.  He has no choice but to drive the woman as quickly as he can to hospital, but with a fake licence in his pocket he is tempting providence, and providence is a fickle mistress...