Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob (1973)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Gérard Oury

Writers:

Roberto De Leonardis (writer)
Josy Eisenberg (dialogue)

Release Date:

18 October 1973 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

THE WILD... THE HILARIOUS... THE SCREWBALL... THE RIOTOUS

Plot:

A bigoted Frenchman finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins - and the police.

Plot Keywords:

Rabbi | Boat | Revolutionary | Toilet | Dentist

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Louis de Funès	...	Victor Pivert / Rabbi Jacob
Suzy Delair	...	Germaine Pivert
Marcel Dalio	...	Rabbi Jacob (as Dalio)
Claude Giraud	...	Mohamed Larbi Slimane / Rabbi Zeiligman
Renzo Montagnani	...	Farès
Janet Brandt
André Falcon	...	Le ministre
Xavier Gélin	...	Le fils du général
Henri Guybet	...	Salomon
Popeck	...	Moishe (as Jean Herbert)
Miou-Miou	...	Antoinette Pivert
Denise Provence	...	Esther
Jacques François	...	Le général / The general
Claude Piéplu	...	Commissaire Andreani
Georges Adet	...	Le vieux Lévi

Also Known As:

Le folli avventure di Rabbi Jacob (Italy)
The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (International: English title)
The Mad Adventures of 'Rabbi' Jacob (USA)

Runtime:

100 min | Spain:91 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English | Hebrew | Yiddish | Arabic

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | USA:G | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Café Les Deux Magots - 6 place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris 6, Paris, France

Company:

Les Films Pomereu

Trivia:

The final scene was filmed at Les Invalides in Paris, which is in fact a military hospital and museum. You can even see the tomb of Napoleon, which is part of the complex in the background (It is the building with the dome). There is a chapel in the complex where people can get married.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the boat escape sequence the headlamps of the car are on, but the rear lamps are not.

Quotes:

Victor Pivert: [astonished, to Salomon, his driver] Salomon, you're Jewish?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Pastewka: Der Unfall (#1.1)" (2005)

A relationship of a life time

I first saw this when I was a kid on its first US release back in the early 1970's. I laughed to kill myself and thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.

The quest to see the movie again over the last 30 years has been a labor of love. I don't think it ever aired on New York TV and its showings on cable can be counted on one hand. I was lucky enough to see it a a local revival theater a few years ago before it completely disappeared. Thanks to E-Bay I recently picked up a VHS copy and now comes word that a US release on DVD is moments away. Life couldn't be better.

The one thing the handful of viewings of the film has taught me is that the movie plays differently every time I see it. Depending on mood it I may find it to be one of the funniest or one of the most charming films movies ever made. Some sequences in one viewing will leave me gasping for breath while other times it will simply make me smile. No matter though I've enjoyed it each time I've watched it.

The story of a bigot who gets way laid and ends up on the run all over France only to end up posing as a beloved Rabbi, is ripe with comic potential most of which is put to good use. Also put to good use are some twists that no rational person would come up with, but which work in the context of a wild comedy, the bubble gum factory for example.

This is a wonderful life affirming story that makes you laugh until you cry while showing that ultimately we are all the same. Which is kind of tragic in view of the films opening shots which are some of the earliest film footage shot at the World Trade Center, which had just opened.

If you like to laugh see this movie, its wonderful.