Les Bidasses s'en vont en guerre (1974)
Directed by Claude Zidi

Comedy / War
aka: Sadsacks Go to War

Film Review

Abstract picture representing Les Bidasses s'en vont en guerre (1974)
The eighth in a run of film comedies featuring the popular musical troupe Les Charlots is, arguably their best.  At the time - the early 1970s - French cinema had successfully revived the military comedy, a genre that had been a mainstay of French cinema in the 1930s (Les Gaietés de l'escadron, Tire au flanc, Les Dégourdis de la 11ème).  It followed hot on the heels of Robert Lamoureux's Mais où est donc passée la septième compagnie (1973) and preceded the virtually identical Soldat Duroc, ça va être ta fête! (1975).  Public antipathy for military service (particularly among the young) may have been the main reason for the film's success - it attracted an audience of 4.2 million.

One of the most commercially successful of French filmmakers at the time, Claude Zidi lives up to his reputation as a mainstream comedy director par excellence in this, his fourth collaboration with the Charlots.  The film is a direct sequel to their first shared venture - Les Bidasses en folie (1971) - and is just as effective in lobbing comedy grenades in all directions for our amusement.  The sequence in which the fab four drag an oil pipe through a house and end up giving their commanding officer (the excellent Jacques Seiler) a skin colour change remains one of the funniest things ever to grace a French film comedy.  After this enjoyable romp, the Charlots would feature in another seven films, although by the end of the decade they were well past their prime.  When we reach the horror spoof Les Charlots contre Dracula (1980) the magic has all but evaporated.
© James Travers 2019
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Claude Zidi film:
La Course à l'échalote (1975)

Film Synopsis

Not everyone is suited for army life - as Gérard, Phil, Jean and Jean-Guy quickly discover when they begin their military service.  Their immediate superior, Sergeant Bellec, makes no allowances for their lack of discipline and tendency for making a complete mess of the simplest of instructions.  Not even Bellec could have foreseen the horrific consequences of his order to have the colonel's swimming pool heated.   In no time at all, the four friends find themselves confined to the camp prison, and it looks as if this is to remain their place of residence until they are let out to return to civilian life.  Providence comes to the rescue, in the form of a lorry that crashes into their cell, providing an easy means of escape.  Without delay, the four friends opt for a spot of French leave and head off for the countryside, hoping that their military escapades are well and truly over.  No such luck.  They end up at a remote farm which, unbeknown to them, is destined to be the target of an imminent military operation...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Claude Zidi
  • Script: Jean Bouchaud, Jean-Paul Farré, Claude Zidi
  • Cinematographer: Paul Bonis
  • Music: Paul Plot
  • Cast: Jean-Guy Fechner (Jean-Guy), Gérard Filipelli (Phil), Gérard Rinaldi (Gérard), Jean Sarrus (Jean), Jacques Seiler (Sergent Bellec), Marisa Merlini (Paulette Brugnon), Heidy Bohlen (La psychologue), Paolo Stoppa (Le colonel), Pierre Gualdi (Le maire), Alain Peysson (Le fiancé), André Tomasi (Le paysan dépanneur), Jacques Robiolles (Lelieutenant), Georges Douking (Le papé), Jean-Paul Farré (Le camelot), Annick Rannou (La jeune infirmière), Dorian Sarrus (La petite peste du village), André Badin (Le général), Philippe Castelli (L'huissier), Myriam Boyer, Brigitte Stein
  • Country: France / Italy / West Germany
  • Language: French
  • Support: Color
  • Runtime: 90 min
  • Aka: Sadsacks Go to War ; The Crazy Boys Go to War

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