Barbouzes, Les (1964)

Director:

Georges Lautner

Writers:

Michel Audiard (dialogue)
Albert Simonin (writer)

Release Date:

May 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Action | Thriller

Plot:

A cold-war spy parody. After the death of an armaments manufacturer, an international group of spies...

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Secret Service | Cult Comedy | Cult Favorite | Castle

Cast

Lino Ventura	...	Francis Lagneau
Francis Blanche	...	Boris Vassiliev
Bernard Blier	...	Eusebio Cafarelli
Mireille Darc	...	Amaranthe
Jess Hahn	...	Le commodore O'Brien
André Weber	...	Rossini
Louis Arbessier	...	The Swiss colonel
Jacques Balutin	...	Le douanier (scenes deleted)
Françoise Giret	...	Mme Pauline
Violette Marceau	...	Rosalinde
Anne-Marie Blot
Yves Elliot
Jean-Pierre Moutier		(as J.P. Moutier)
Jean-François Régnier		(as J.F. Régnier)
Michel Duplaix	...	Le barbouze avec Fiduc

Also Known As:

Quattro spie sotto il letto (Italy)
The Great Spy Chase (USA)

Runtime:

109 min | Portugal:106 min | USA:84 min | West Germany:107 min | Argentina:108 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | West Germany:16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Chateau de Vigny, Val-d'Oise, France

Company:

Corona Cinematografica

Movie Connections:

References From Russia with Love (1963)

Situation Abnormal & All F... up...

Being very much into spy movies and political thrillers, it is somewhat difficult for me to comment in an honest way about this movie. The reason is simple: it is a direct attack on this genre, and to all its main aspects. Every ingredient of a good spy movie is used to (try to) make fun about.

The young and lovely widow of a rich arms merchant has inherited without knowing a whole collection of A weapons. The arms merchant bought all these nukes, because they were threatening his sales of conventional weapons. Of course not very plausible, but OK... the story itself is of secondary importance, as the main aim is to make jokes about the traditional spy movies.

Four "rather suspicious" characters turn up at the 'château' of the rich widow, and all four claim to have known the deceased. As one of the French former Presidents (F. Faure), he also died due to a heart failure in a Parisian brothel. Of course the French movie makers can't resist to draw obvious similarities. The four seem to know each other quite well, as they are colleagues in the deadly spy game. Soon, they change the château into a kindergarten for nasty little spies. First they try to eliminate each other by exotic means like a scorpion or with explosives... But as they know each other's reputation too well, it all ends up with a status quo ante, just as the Korean war did. Than, it turns out that strange little yellow men are hiding behind the walls of the château, observing everything, waiting for the right moment to eliminate everyone... Only to be eliminated themselves by the 4 rival agents, teaming temporarily together. With guns making popping sounds like toy guns and shooting more bullets than a Gatling gun, the Yellow Danger soon is no longer a threat. Than, the four try to win the heart of the widow, who has stopped wearing black, and now gaily hops around like some kind of frivolous shepherdess. And "of course" it is the French spy -his name can be translated as 'lamb' by the way- who beats his 3 European rivals. The role of the US agent is limited in driving around in a very flashy car, blowing the horn very loudly, waving with lots of money, and being thrown out of the window each time by his more "intellectual" hum hum European rivals... So yes, lots of cheap clichés too...

The jokes are funny up to a certain level, but in the end, it really becomes too much of the same. Well, I prefer Lino Ventura in his serious spy movies, like the outstanding "Le Silencieux" (The silent one). But HE seems to enjoy the movie, one can almost feel him having it difficult not to burst into a loud laughter, when he's trying to talk "seriously" to the beautiful Amaranthe.