Mon frangin du Sénégal (1953)
Directed by Guy Lacourt

Film Review

Despite his resemblance to Buster Keaton (which he flaunts shamelessly in this film) Raymond Bussières fails to have much of an impact in this hopelessly pedestrian comedy.  Borrowing the fictitious twin brother device that Fernandel had used to far better effect in Raphaël le tatoué (1939), Mon frangin du Sénégal feels like a lukewarm compendium of recycled ideas, the lack of originality shown by Norbert Carbonnaux in the script writing department suitably matched by Guy Lacourt in his direction (you can see why he directed only two films and devoted most of his career to production management).

Bussières was a reasonably talented actor but a pretty mediocre comic and here he proves how ill-equipped he was to carry a comedy by himself.  Dull and formulaic, the film only comes to life when Louis de Funès shows up (all too briefly) and subjects us to another of his hilarious character turns - this time he plays a short-sighted and totally inept doctor.  The film's other notable comedy performers - Noël Roquevert, Paulette Dubost and Paul Demange - are completely wasted and, lacking de Funès' unceasing flair for invention, they do little to alleviate the all-enveloping sense of ennui that spews from Carbonnaux's third rate script like lava from a volcano.  Not even the presence of Louis de Funès in cracking form can make up for the life-sapping tedium of this still born comedy.

Film Synopsis

Jules Pinson, a photographer, is madly in love with Annette, a grocer's daughter, but she has no interest in him.  It is action heroes, of the kind she sees on the screen at the local cinema, that set Annette's heart fluttering, not dullards like Jules.  In the end, Jules has no option but to invent a twin brother César, an adventurer who hunts lions in Africa.  In the guise of César, Jules has no difficulty luring Annette into his arms, but when a lion escapes from a nearby zoo he has a job living up to his supposed reputation...