Film Review
If the Marx Brothers were to hijack a Marcel Pagnol film it could scarcely
help bearing some resemblance to
Un de la Canebière, one of
the liveliest and most picturesque French film comedies of the 1930s.
Okay, so the film's director René Pujol was never in the same league
as Marcel Pagnol, but his films have as much of an authentic meridional feel
to them as Pagnol's and were just as popular - even more so. Groucho,
Harpo and Chico had nothing to fear from Henri Alibert, Rellys and René
Sarvil, but the latter still form a formidable comic team and their ability
to play off one another and turn routine farce into comedy gold is what makes
Un de la Canebière such an enjoyable romp. It's hard to
explain why Pagnol's Marseille
films are still widely lauded around
the world whilst this delightful comedy - with the same setting and a cast
of comparable quality - has been all but forgotten - even in France.
Un de la Canebière was originally an operetta, first performed
on stage in 1935. It was written by Henri Alibert, soon to become one
of the most popular French singers of his generation, and René Sarvil,
a comic actor and writer of no mean talent. Music was supplied by Alibert's
father-in-law Vincent Scotto, who, one of the most prolific French composers
of the time, scored many a film by Marcel Pagnol and even took the lead role
in one of Pagnol's early films -
Jofroi
(1934). The operetta was a hit and spawned the successful film adaptation
two years later. Twenty years on, the film was remade - in garish colour
- as
Trois de la Canebière
(1956), directed by Maurice de Canonge with Michel Galabru in the role of
Pénible. Several of the musical numbers in the film became popular
hits of the day, in particular
Le plus beau tango du monde and
Cane...
Cane... Canebière.
In contrast to many other high profile chansonniers who followed in his footsteps
(a long roll-call that includes Tino Rossi, Luis Mariano, Charles Trenet
and Georges Guétary) Henri Alibert was a reasonably talented actor
and comedian as well as an instantly likeable singer, and what made him particularly
successful on screen was his ability to complement other great performers.
In this and the subsequent two films Alibert made with Pujol -
Titin des Martigues
(1938) and
Les Gangsters
du château d'If (1939) - the actor-singer has a rapport with
his co-stars - Rellys, Pierre Larquey, René Sarvil - that can only
be described as magical. What makes
Un de la Canebière
so satisfying and effortlessly entertaining is the chemistry between Alibert
and his two comedy cohorts, Rellys and Sarvil - the threesome works so well
that you wonder why they never went on to became France's answer to the Marx
Brothers.
Alibert, the good-looking one with perfect teeth and a perfect smile to match,
naturally gets to play the romantic lead and sing the most famous number
(
Le plus beau tango du monde) alongside the even more photogenic Germaine
Roger (another immense star of French operetta). Rellys and Sarvil
are the pantomime uglies who are here just to make us laugh - something they
have ample opportunity to do. Brandon Thomas's famous Victorian farce
Charley's Aunt gets a sly revamp as Rellys slips out of his fisherman's
garb and into corsets and old lace, literally dragging the film to a whole
new level of hilarity. Although memorable for his dramatic roles in
Pagnol's films - many consider his Ugolin in
Manon des sources (1953)
to be a career high point - Rellys was most naturally a comic performer,
and it is as the fake Aunt Clarisse in
Un de la Canebière that
he is at his funniest (scarily resembling a tribute to Old Mother Riley by
old man Steptoe). The scene in which the fake and real aunts finally
get to meet is one to savour - it is an iconic moment in French film comedy.
The Marx Brothers were
mad not to have remade this film.
© James Travers 2016
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Toinet, Girelle and Pénible are three friends who lead an amiable
existence as humble fishermen in the sunny port of Marseille. Toinet
and Girelle mistake Francine and Malou for a pair of film stars and, to make
a positive impression, pass themselves off as the owners of a large sardine
canning factory. Francine and Malou are too wise to be taken in by
such an obvious lie, so, to teach the two fishermen a lesson, they place
a large sardine order with them. Bienaimé, who is equally smitten
with Francine, is roped into the plan. Assured by the girls that the
fishermen will not be able to fulfil the order, he signs a contract for half
a million cans of sardines. Unwilling to back down, Toinet and
Girelle persuade Pénible to pose as his aged Aunt Clarisse, who is
rich enough to be the factory's owner. Realising that they cannot
supply the ordered sardines, the fishermen are forced to fake Aunt Clarisse's
death to render the contract void, but in doing so they overlook a clause
that entitles Bienaimé to compensation. Toinet and Girelle are
rescued by a Greek businessman who, believing he killed Aunt Clarisse in
a boating accident, offers the fishermen the cash they need to set up a real
sardine canning business. All goes well until the real Aunt Clarisse
shows up unexpectedly...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.