Some films were banned during the occupation ,Marcel Carné's materpiece "le jour se lève" (1939) was forbidden since WW2 broke out by the military censorship, because it was "demoralizing" ; this one was banned ,during the Occupation days ,because of its silliness, deemed inappropriate in those war days .
There was worse , at the time, there has always been worse,and there would be much worse in the future ,in the international cinema .
Pierre Caron was a cheesy director , but "la fessée" ,for instance ,was so crazy it retained some appeal today.
"Pension Jonas " is even madder , implausible to the umpteenth degree ; the screenwriter ,Pierre Very, (uncredited) was no fool and one of the best screenwriter the French cinema had ever had .But what can you do when you are given the dumbest material , an obscure goofy novel ?
Very made the best of it and the cock and bull story is watchable ,provided your belief is suspended .
Not only Jonas (Jonah) ,like the biblical figure, takes refugee in the belly of a whale in a museum ,but unlike him , he finds it cosy and has now a fine apartment ; at night he calls on his friends,the animals in the zoo , who provides him with food (the monkey gives bananas) ; a professor tells his students that one knows nothing ,absolutely nothing about the origins of man :so why bother ?,the audience says ,one of them liking songwriting best .One of the scientist's colleague ,however ,is to come back from Tibet ,with an "invaluable treasure" ,which attracts a band of thieves' attention .....
In which can film can you see a hippo on a leash , walking in the streets,and scaring the passer-bys ? A prehistoric egg which hatches to reveal a small cuckoo clock ?
Pierre Larquey , willingly taking this zany tale seriously , is irresistible.
