Les Cinq sous de Lavarède (1939) Directed by Maurice Cammage
Comedy
aka: The Five Cents of Lavarede
Film Review
The imminent outbreak of World War II didn't deter Fernandel from throwing his all into
this rip-roaring adventure farce, a kind of “Around the World in Eighty Days On A Shoestring
Budget”. (The great horse-faced comedian would later make a small cameo appearance
in Michael Anderson's sumptuous World in Eighty Days, 1956 - a far better film,
but nowhere near as funny as this one). An expansive plot and plenty of location
photography gives Les Cinq sous de Lavarède
a surprisingly modern, almost epic, feel compared with Fernandel's other studio-bound
comedies of this era.
The film is based on a story by Paul d'Ivoi, a popular French writer of the late
19th/early 20th Century, whose works - often fantasy adventures of the Jules Verne variety
- have frequently been adapted for film and theatre. Significantly, this is one
of the very few French films which features the Tour de France (including the greatly
missed finale in the Parc des Princes velodrome).
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Film Synopsis
Armand Lavarède is an inveterate yarn spinner who delights in regaling
anyone who cares to listen with his accounts of his wild and highly implausible
exploits. His thirst for adventure will be tested when a cousin leaves
him a fortune in his will, on condition that he lives up to his reputation.
To inherit, the supposedly intrepid Lavarède must circumnavigate the
world in two months with just twenty-five centimes in his pocket. If
he should fail in this, the entire fortune will pass to Murlington and Bouvreuil,
the two men who been appointed to ensure that the terms of the will are satisfied.
In Murlington's daughter, Lavarède finds he has a useful ally who
is willing to help him succeed, but in Bouvreuil he has a fierce adversary
who is determined to see him fail. Lavarède's first attempt
to smuggle aboard a steamer bound for America is frustrated by Bouvreuil,
but by exercising his initiative he manages to cross the Atlantic, only to
be mistaken for a wanted hoodlum...
Script: Jean-Louis Bouquet,
Henri Chabrillat (novel),
Paul d'Ivoi (novel),
Jean Rioux (dialogue), René Wheeler
Cinematographer: Georges Clerc
Music: Casimir Oberfeld
Cast:Fernandel (Armand Lavarède),
Josette Day (Miss Aurett Murlington),
Andrex (Jim Strong),
Félix Oudart (Le capitaine du cargo Heaven Way),
André Roanne (Jim Strong),
Henri Nassiet (Jack),
Pierre Labry (Le gardien chef),
Albert Duvaleix (Maître Panabert),
Geymond Vital (Le policier),
Jacques Henley (L'officier du Normandie),
Talmont (Le révérend Houston),
Serjius (Un gardien),
Jacques Servières (Le pilote),
Marcel Vidal (Le barman),
Paul Grail (César Bouffigues),
Paul Bonifas (Un marin),
Alexandre Mihalesco (Le commissaire-priseur hindou),
Philippe Janvier (Le conspirateur),
Georges Briquet (Le reporter),
Jacqueline Figus (La danseuse acrobatique)
Country: France
Language: French
Support: Black and White
Runtime: 125 min
Aka:The Five Cents of Lavarede
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