la grande vadrouille
| Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At! |
The US release poster |
| Directed by |
Gérard Oury |
| Produced by |
Robert Dorfmann |
| Starring |
Bourvil (Augustin Bouvet)
Louis de Funès (Stanislas Lefort)
Claudio Brook (Peter Cunningham) |
| Music by |
Georges Auric
Hector Berlioz |
| Cinematography |
André Domage
Alain Douarinou
Claude Renoir |
| Editing by |
Albert Jurgenson |
| Release date(s) |
December 8, 1966 (France) |
| Running time |
132 min
101 min (West Germany) |
| Country |
France |
| Language |
English |
| IMDb profile |
La Grande Vadrouille (literally: The Grand Stroll. Released in the USA as Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!) is a 1966 comedy film about how the crew of a Royal Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress shot down over Paris makes its way through German-occupied France with the main help of two French citizens with very different mindset. It was the highest-grossing film in France from the time of its release until the release of the 1997 Titanic.
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Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Comments
- 3 Cast
- 4 Trivia
- 5 See also
- 6 External link
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Plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Summer 1942. During the Nazi Occupation in France, a Royal Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress gets lost after a mission and is shot down over Paris by German flak. The crew, Reginald (with the big moustache), Peter Cunningham and Alan MacIntosh, parachute out right over the city. They are hidden by a house painter, Augustin Bouvet, and the grumbling conductor of the Opéra National de Paris, Stanislas Lefort. Involuntarily, Lefort and Bouvet get themselves involved in the manhunt against the aviators, led by Major Aschbach. They have to help the flyboys to go back to England with the help of Resistance fighters and sympathizers.
Comments
In spite of this dark period chosen (World War II and the Nazi Occupation of France), the movie is a "springboard" to the funny tandem constituted by de Funès and Bourvil. Louis de Funès, hilarious in a grumbling selfish man, doubtless finds here his best role with Bourvil, more "stupid" and sentimental than ever. Possibly the most memorable scene of the film is the visit to the Turkish Baths where Bourvil & De Funes are individually searching for a member of the bomber crew, each as representatives of the respective crew member they helped to hide. By whistling the agreed signature tune of 'Tea for Two', they wander the Turkish baths whistling a romantic American song, before finally finding each other still unaware they are both French. The scene culminates with an hilarious exchange, in broken english with heavy french accent, between Bourvil and De Funes, before the realisation dawns that they are both French.
Other great scenes include the German Birthday party and silly chair dance and the confusion of the hotel rooms 9 & 6, which make Bourvil & De Funes sleep beside Major Achbach and his assisting officer (who are chasing them), or the machine-gunning of planes by a cross-eyed artilleryman.
Cast
- Bourvil : Augustin Bouvet
- Louis de Funès : Stanislas Lefort
- Terry-Thomas : Sir Reginald (Big moustache)
- Claudio Brook : Peter Cunningham
- Mike Marshall : Alan Mac Intosh
- Marie Dubois : Juliette
- Pierre Bertin : Juliette's grandfather
- Andrea Parisy : Sister Marie-Odile
- Mary Marquet : The upper Sister
- Benno Sterzenbach : Major Achbach
- Paul Préboist : The fisherman
Trivia
- The film was released in China in late 1970s as 虎口脱险 (Pinyin: Hŭ Kŏu Tuō Xiăn), literally Escape from the Tiger's Jaw, and has since been one of the best loved comedies and WWII films, being replayed again and again in TV, and in recent years, a best seller in DVD.
- Given the history of usage of the B-17 by RAF, the events in the movie take place in the summer of 1941.
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