Tout l'or du monde (1961)
Directed by René Clair

Film Review

For his penultimate film (before Les Fêtes galantes), director René Clair serves up an anarchic anti-capitalist farce which feels distinctly like a close cousin of his early masterpiece À nous la liberté (1931).  Although an obvious vehicle for comic star Bourvil, Tout l'or du monde provided Clair with a platform for delivering a personal tirade against modern life (anti-commerce, anti-publicity and anti-pollution) that was in sympathy with a growing interest in natural living.  Whilst it pales into insignificance when compared with Clair's earlier achievements, the film is an enjoyable romp which makes good use not only of Bourvil's comic abilities but also his talents as a character actor.

In addition to playing his familiar (albeit somewhat outdated) country bumpkin persona and singing the obligatory nonsense song (about sheep), Bourvil also appears in the guise of a crotchety old timer (whose sole preoccupation seems to be shooting gun pellets at any passing buttock) and a shifty-looking fugitive living the high life in Mexico.  What prevents this from being a gratuitous one-man show is the inspired pairing of Philippe Noiret and Claude Rich, who make a remarkably effective double act as a pair of dodgy real estate developers.  You can also hardly escape noticing Françoise Dorléac (Catherine Deneueve's sister and star of François Truffaut's La Peau douce) in one of her early film roles.

After a promising beginning, the film loses its way midstream as Bourvil goes chasing after a sensation-seeking starlet (Colette Castel) for no apparent reason but ends up back on track just as Noiret's deviousness goes into hyper-drive.  For the ecologically minded, Tout l'or du monde probably has a far greater resonance today than when it was first released, and its underlying moral - that there's more to life than wealth - has never rung more true.

Film Synopsis

The small village of Cabosse is renowned for one thing: the people who live there can enjoy a long and healthy life, thanks to the pure country air.  Seeing a chance to make some easy money, businessman Victor Hardy decides to buy up the entire village and transform it into an upmarket community for the well-off.  Within a few weeks, everyone in the village has agreed to sell his house to Hardy, except one man.  The elderly Mathieu Dumont refuses to sell up because he is determined to preserve an old family tradition, namely that every Dumont who has lived in the Cabosse should die and be buried there.  Hardy sees a potential ally in Dumont's timid son, Toine, and wastes no time trying to win him round.  However, his troubles are far from over...