Les gueux au paradis

When I was five or six,we were in Paris and my mother took me to the pictures twice:first "bridge on the river Kwai" where the only things that fascinated me were a ventilator in an office and the final scene .Then the following day "les Gueux au Paradis" ,a black and white film which was not even a new release when I saw it .Those were my two first films ever.

Two jolly fellows got run over by a stagecoach.They immediately wind up in Hell ,but they do not like it (would you?) so they escape from this horrible place and knock on Heaven's door.But St Peter is not prepared to accept them either ,so back to the square one (the Earth) and do not collect any bucks.

Seeing Fernandel and Raimu together is enough for me.To know them is to love them.Period.

There was a time when St Nicolas day ,on the night of the 5th of December, was more important than Christmas for the children ;St Nicolas used to bring sweets and toys to them,accompanied by "le Père Fouettard" (= the bogeyman) ,replaced in the film by St Antoine (too attract the young audience);today, the tradition survives ,notably in Lorraine and in some regions of the east and the north of France ,but ,overall ,it has been slowly but inexorably overshadowed by Christmas; in certain countries such as Germany,it 's still popular.

Two pals ,Boule (Raimu) and Pons (Fernandel) ,disguised as the two saints are about to deliver the goodies ,under the angry gaze of the gendarme and of the undertaker : the former knows that Pons is a hobo and Boule fond of the bottle ;as for the undertaker ,he covets the latter's wife. Both "saints " get run over by a stagecoach and wind up in Hell ,then in Heaven .But as far the pearly gates are concerned, there's a fly in the ointment :the real saints are already there.

Taking place in a indeterminated era , it's really an anomaly :a farce turning fantasy ; one can only dream of what a great director/writer such as Pagnol would have done with the subject : most of the lines fall flat,the settings show an obvious lack of means ,and the third part is confused ;best moments ,in my book, occurs in Heaven :Alerme as an inflexible St Peter and Gaby Andreu as a compassionate Virgin Mary play their game well ; a good idea : Boule sees his late dad in Hell ,as a waiter (he was a drunk in his earthly ride) and his late daughter in Heaven where she's as happy as she can be.

But you would not miss a movie starring both great provençal actors, Raimu and Fernandel,two legends of the French cinema.