Jean Lefebvre
This year, Michel Audiard would have turned 100. To celebrate the life and work of the French screenwriter and director, Gaumont opens their vault and reveals some unknown information on the legendary witty dialogues writer.
The stage director of the play L’œuf de Pâquesis given the importante Molière award. Taking this reward for a bad joke, he thinks that a conspiracy mounts against him and decides to rewrite the play, transforming it into Molière’s La critique de l’École des femmes.
Three friends, Robert, Michel and Jean, would be three happy men if Robert's aunt, who has inherited a magnificent nightclub, the King Club, in which they work, didn't torment them. Friendly and small-minded, they think they're tough and don't hesitate to traffic. Their latest find is not without imagination: to bring from Amsterdam diamonds hidden in the diaper of a baby of whom Michel is the father.
André Doirmot, colloquially called "the father André," is the quack of Montgarçin village and its surroundings. Well known and appreciated by all, he continued the family tradition. André will be required to treat and cure the leader of a Japanese trust and his nephew. The Japanese then decided to market a new product: the elixir of Father Andrew. The figure of the brave French peasant invaded the screens, posters are put up, the commercials are made in Japanese, English, American, Arabic and even Russian! But father André lost his beautiful serenity.
Michel Sénéchal gave up fishing to please his wife Yvonne. Gone are the trawlers and the waters of Newfoundland. Hello to the Duclair ferry, of which he is commander. One evening, while he is cheating his boredom with a bottle of rum in the streets of the city, he is challenged by the advertisement of a traveling circus that invites you to discover "the mermaid Elsa, the one, the only, the true.
It's about a couple owning a small hotel who are trying to sell it.
The former spouses Jacqueline and Bernard are still living in the same apartment. And now each of them has a new "half"...
Julien est envoyé par son patron à l'île Maurice, où il fait la connaissance d'Henri, un chômeur professionnel. Un soir de beuverie, les deux hommes se soulagent au pied d'une statue sacrée. Offensés par ce sacrilège, les dieux les punissent en leur ôtant leur reflet et en les faisant léviter. Si cette situation leur paraît au début invivable, les deux hommes finissent cependant par tirer parti de ces désavantages pour régler leurs problèmes personnels.
While hiding from the royal authorities, Giacomo Casanova, the famous romancer, encounters his look-alike: Giacomino, a fugitive petty con man. Meanwhile, the Arabian Caliph and his wife are arriving in Venice for a state visit, and she insists on a night with the legendary lover. Through a series of erotic encounters and mistaken-identity comedies, Giacomo and Giacomino make their way back to Venice for their appointment with the Caliph's wife.
A man with a gunshot wound in the stomach comes to first house and collapses in Anita's apartment. A minute later he dies and the girl horrified by what happened, must look for somebody who would help her get rid of the corpse...
When Charles Le Braque learns that his boss' 17 years old daughter is pregnant, he fears that his 16 years old nice Joel from France, who's spending her vacation with them in Canada, might fall into the same trap. So he and his wife decide to give her the lecture of plants and bees... but it turns out that she's already well informed, gives them a lecture about simultaneous orgasms. She inspires the sexually repressed couple to start experimenting with "modern" forms of sex.
A beautiful and thoroughly modern young French women, Francoise, gets involved with an Israeli agent working in Libya. The agent is exposed and in order to save his life, he has to be smuggled out of the country in a trunk ("valise"). Francoise and the agent get through a lot of turbulent adventures, in the process of which the thoroughly liberated young woman also seduces a Libyan agent and an Egyptian officer, who also fall wildly in love with here.
A writer of pulp fiction imagines himself as the dashing hero and his English neighbor as his love interest.
1940: During the chaotic running fights of the French army the 7th company disappears - nobody knows they've been taken captive. Only their scouting patrol, three witty but lazy guys, can escape and now wanders around behind the German lines. They'd like to just stay out the fights, but a Lieutenant urges them to use a captured truck to break through to their troops.
The sleepy little village of Loubressac is well on its way to becoming a ghost town. To save the town, the local citizenry hatch a plan to attract tourists. To their horror, the plan misfires when a group of hippies are the first to move in. The hippies' free and unconventional ways quickly upset the staid lives of the locals. Then one of the locals is found murdered, and suspicion inevitably falls on the newcomers. Eventually, the locals and the hippies join forces to solve the mystery, and in the course of their adventures learn to respect each others' ways.
A Parisian named Cartier living in Quebec City and employee of a major English Canadian insurance company is promoted to a job in Vancouver. He brings along his annoying and hyperactive Quebecquer wife and his two young kids. Rolling on a trailer van and with no knowledge of the English language, it becomes a Trans-Canadian wacky journey for the French-speaking family, and might influence Mr.Cartier to reconsider accepting this important position...
Young Jim Hawkins finds himself serving with pirate captain Long John Silver in search of a buccaneer's treasure, in this short adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale.
The whole clique of Cruchot's police station is retired. Now he lives with his rich wife in her castle - and is bored almost to death. He fights with the butler, because he isn't even allowed to do the simple works. But when one of the clique suffers from amnesia after an accident, all of the others reunite and kidnap him, to take him on a tour to their old working places and through their memories. In their old uniforms they turn St. Tropez upside down.
Monsieur Gentil runs a perfume factory. He is a shy man, bullied by Madame Marthe, the manager, and spurned by Cléo, the young travel agent he is in love with. He 'd rather be a tough guy than a wet blanket and his meeting with Durante, a gangster, will be decisive. Considering him a providential piggy bank, Durante, following the advice of his boss Spinosa, entrusts the" education" of Gentil to two experts, Perrugo and Bersone.
The Saint-Tropez police launch a major offensive against dangerous drivers. Marechal Cruchot (Louis de Funès) relishes the assignment, which he pursues with a manic zeal. Cruchot is after an offending driver, who turns out to be Josépha (Claude Gensac), the widow of a highly regarded police colonel. When they meet, Cruchot falls instantly in love....
Set in 18th century France, a naive 17-year-old orphan named Benjamin is taken in by his wealthy aunt, the Countess de Valandry. There, he is seduced by a variety of women, including a few flirtatious maidservants and neighboring countesses who all want to be Benjamin's "first".
This talkative and unevenly paced feature finds Fou (Jean Lefebvre) the inventor of a gas that makes the users fall in love. He is chased by his boss, the police, and spies, who seek to secure the secret recipe for their own selfish purposes. A shadowy American underworld figure tries to intimidate the inventor. A half-hearted attempt at comedy tries to go along with the double dealing and trickery of the thin plot of the film.
Goubi, the simpleton of his village in the French Department Allier, has but one wish: to see Paris. One day, the truckers Grafouillère deposit a drunk Goubi in the biggest market of Paris (the "Halles"). The poor man is completely lost, but the meat merchant Dessertine takes him under his wings when he hears that Goubi was likewise 'raised by the State'...
Soon after her latest husband death, the King himself (Louis XIV) meets with our heroine and begs her to help convince the Persian Ambassador to agree to a treaty. However, what they didn't realize was that the handsome Persian was in fact a sexual sadist. So, it is up to the King's half- brother, some Hungarian prince, to save Angélique from the evil troll's clutches.
One-time gangster Antoine is enjoying retirement on the coast, now managing a boating club. He receives a visit from a former accomplice who asks for a loan. The money will be repaid by a crook who is now in hiding; Antoine intends to recover his money.
A thief (George Chakiris) falls in love with a maid (Marina Vlady) and goes on the run after stealing Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."
The second installment of Gendarmes series, tells the story of Sergeant Cruchot (Louis De Funes), who, together with his faithful comrades, has been sent to the International Congress of Gendarmerie in N.Y.
The film consists of three novels. The film begins with the fact that the Bernard Blier hero removes a lantern from the entrance to a brothel. The second part is about how the lantern and jewelery were stolen from a young baroness. And in the third part the hero of Louis de Funes hangs a lantern at the entrance to his house.
A confused pair of airport luggage carriers get involved in the disappearance of some suitcases.
The ambitious police officer Cruchot is transferred to St. Tropez. He's struggling with crimes such as persistent nude swimming, but even more with his teenage daughter, who's trying to impress her rich friends by telling them her father was a millionaire and owned a yacht in the harbor.
Shopkeeper Victor Garnier has naively invested his family's life savings in an African mine, on his banker's recommendation. When the mine is nationalized, rendering the stock worthless, he considers himself shamelessly robbed by the bank; it seems only fair to him to return the 'favor' and rob the bank, teaming up with the whole family as they were all duped. Even for professionals such an enterprise -he decides to dig a tunnel- is quite demanding, but for simple commoners it's daunting, as they also have their personal downsides; thus Victor's wife has a most unwelcome tendency to blurt out the truth, even to the grumpy local copper: a crazy risk when you need to keep a criminal plan secret.
Marcel and Francis are busy people. Marcel owns a café and spend all his nights running from meetings to meetings with members from the high society... at least, that's what he say to his barman! Francis leaves his home, loving wife and adorable daughter, frequently to attend meetings and demonstration with customers. His boss trusts him so much that his agenda is always full... at least, that's what he say to his wife! In fact, Marcel and Francis' incomes come from their night job: thieves! Here at least, they are professional. Troubles arise when, during one robbery, they encounter a young, high-pitched voice, candid girl who takes the decision to become their associate in crime... for the fun!
Désespéré par la mort de sa femme, le banquier René Duchesne se promène le long de la Seine. Seule la rencontre de Suzanne, son ancienne femme de chambre lui révélant les infidélités de Madame, le sauve du suicide. Monsieur décide alors d'aider sa protégée à sortir de la prostitution, et d'empêcher ses beaux-parents de faire main basse sur l'héritage.
An extremely funny film about a group of French rugby supporters who go to see a match at Twickenham and one of them inadvertently receives a blow in the mouth from someone else's elbow. In the process he loses some front teeth and needs to see a dentist urgently ... this is only the beginning of a long series of adventures befalling our poor friend who doesn't speak a word of English and who nevertheless needs to return urgently to France to get married in the following days sporting a decent mouth !
Hélène and François are a perfect couple happily married for twelve years. But Hélène discovers psychoanalysis via a very handsome Dr. Kougloff, and he convinces her that the apparent well-balanced nature of her husband is in fact a cover for horrible tragedies.
When Massa (Robert Hossein) is released from prison, he's sure that Luciano (Simon Andreu), an old freind, is responsible for his incarceration. Massa proceeds to keep watch on Luciano, who has been living with Massa's beloved sister Maria (Marie-France Pisier). Feeling doubly betrayed because of his unhealthy adoration for Maria, Massa is determined to get back at Luciano and ends up in a deadly game of roulette.
An aging gangster, Fernand Naudin is hoping for a quiet retirement when he suddenly inherits a fortune from an old friend, a former gangster supremo known as the Mexican. If he is ambivalent about his new found wealth, Fernand is positively nonplussed to discover that he has also inherited his benefactor’s daughter, Patricia. Unfortunately, not only does Fernand have to put up with the thoroughly modern Patricia and her nauseating boyfriend, but he also had to contend with the Mexican’s trigger-happy former employees, who are determined to make a claim.
Samuel finances his participation in a card game by stealing parts from a jeep. He cheats at cards, and has his hands broken as a consequence.
In this French crime drama, two safe-crackers are breaking into a safe when they are caught in the act by the owner. One of the crooks kills him and flees leaving his partner behind. The abandoned accomplice is captured and convicted. One year passes before the convict is able to escape from prison and set out to exact his revenge.
A young girl rescues a man from a suicide attempt. He turns out to be a sociopath, who begins to take over her life, abusing her both verbally and emotionally, yet she can't seem to tear herself away from him.
The story takes place in the racecourses around Paris. A so-called major sells his tips to naive characters.
The former Belgian Congo was a popular topic for French-speaking filmmakers in the early '60s since the country was in the process of consolidating an independent government. Unfortunately, decades later the country (Zaire for a long time), was still unstable. In this routine drama two Congolese men, two European men, and one Euro woman are thrown together as they all try to escape the areas of fighting. The Europeans are torn between going back home or staying. One fellow lost his business in the upheavals and though he and the woman are involved with each other, she is not so certain that the Congo is an ideal place to try to re-establish a livelihood.
Marcel, a simple-minded factory worker, is tricked into buying a high-priced American convertable car by a widow determined not to let it fall into the hands of her late husband's secretary/secret lover. Once in pocession of the car, Marcel only encounters one bad luck episode after another with the excessive gasoline consumtion, his wife trying to sell it to make ammends meet, getting into traffic jams, accidently riding into a car wash with the top down, and more
Rich industrialist Jacques Decret learns his wife Gloria is having an affair with a young actor. For revenge, he bombards her with anonymous letters, convincing her that her lover is the culprit while Gloria desperately seeks a way out.
A group of fun-loving French soldiers manage to circumvent a band of cutthroat pirates and win the undying loyalty of a tribal potentate.
Jean Brevent still did not understand the departure of his wife, Danielle Darieux. It's been five years, but he still can't forget her. In spite of a work of writer originator in a newspaper, in which it tried to be invested completely, time did not make its work. One day, by chance, he meets her in the bus...
Quand la Femme S'en Mele (When the Woman Butts In) stars French film favorite Edwige Feuillere as a high-class gangster's moll named Maine. When Maine's first husband and daughter pay a visit, it's an awkward time for our heroine and her current amour, gang boss Godot (Jean Servais). In addition to fielding a lot of embarrassing questions, Godot also has to deal with a pesky turf war with a rival mobster. Not that the ex-husband is a paragon of virtue: he's busy trying to get even with a crooked business associate.
Princesse Nadia Vronskaïa is a veteran con artist who uses her feminine wiles to bilk wealthy, susceptible old men. Inevitably, she outsmarts herself when she falls in love with one of her victims. In concert with her new beau, she turns the tables on her former partners in crime.
Elisabeth is persuaded to have killed her noisy upstairs neighbor, scientist Charles Magne. To save her, Mr. Matheu, Elisabeth's father, accuses himself while Pierrot, Elisabeth's fiancé gets rid of the body in order to save father and daughter. For his part, a gangster also believes he has killed the scientist but he gets shot down by a taxidermist, who runs for life. The girl, her daddy and her boyfriend also run away. But Magne is not dead. A bum is mistaken for him and a police inspector makes everyone believe that he is the one who shot the gangster. At the end of this crazy chain of events all the protagonists are reunited at the station house and everybody dances to express their relief.
Sylvie is a young cashier in a Montmartre café, "le bar des Philosophes", owned and run by Monsieur Marcel, a former safe cracker. One day, the pretty creature accepts to give a helping hand to two regulars, Francis and Josélito. But what the naive girl does not know is that the two men are gangsters and that they plan to steal 50 million francs deposited in the safe of Maître Roland Devert, a charming young notary. Actually things do not go according to plan all the more as a love story between the notary and Sylvie was not at all on the two gangsters' agenda.
A dying man entrusts 25 million to a young girl's care, but she's afraid of being suspected of theft.
Juliette Hardy is sexual dynamite, and has the men of a French coastal town panting. But Antoine, the only man who affects her likewise, wouldn't dream of settling down with a woman his friends consider the town tramp.
After a spending the night with his girlfriend Alice (Jeanne Moreau), trucker Jean (Jean Gabin) encounters a dead body on the road home. He reports the incident to the police who suspect that Jean was responsible for the death and his new truck is impounded. To make matters worse, the man's widow accuses Jean of having robbed her husband of a large amount of money that he was carrying. And then there's that gang of sinister crooks who also are harassing him. Jean is a victim of circumstance and forces beyond his control are closing in on him. But Alice gives him a measure of comfort and stability. With her as his emotional base, he manages to rouse his trucker friends to turn the tables against the gangsters who are pursuing him.
Philippe Perrin, a young engineer passionate about his work, leads the construction of a huge dam in the High Alps. Like all the men who work on the building site, he gives the best part of himself. Unfortunately, his health deteriorates but he refuses to follow the doctor's orders as well as the advice of Micheline, a young nurse who has fallen in love with him. However, driven by the evolution of his illness, Philippe finally makes up his mind to go down to the valley for a treatment. On the very day of his departure though, a young Arab worker gets killed in a rock crusher...
The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.
To escape his female fans, Carlos Cortez makes for the Riviera. Along the way, he picks up a hitchhiker named Annabel who invites him to go camping with her friends. Living under his real name, the incognito star wins new friends. But a theft complicates things. Fortunately, Annabel is still around and Jacques can do no better than to marry her.
