....than to be confined in an insane asylum.
Correct me if I'm wrong,but I would venture to guess that ,at the time ,not too many critics could say they were looking at Roger Richebé for new horizons in French Cinema.
Down with the Cahiers Du Cinema and their so called Cinema D'Auteur! La Fugue De Monsieur Perle (1952)(= M. Perle's runaway )is a funny comedy ,which loses a little steam in its last third ,but do not deny yourself an entertaining pleasant farce.
Noel-Noel is a pastry cook,whose stuff (particularly his "Cabanes Au Canada",a cake which has completely disappeared nowadays:too bad,it looks lovely)is appreciated by the holier-than-thou Lady Bountiful who collects them for the Church fair.Unfortunately,he lives with an authoritarian missus and her cousin ,a retired (ouch!) military man who is also a scrounger.
Opportunity knocks:a rich childless aunt has just died and he 's the sole heir:although they are relatives to the third degree,the French(welfare) state leaves him a relatively nice little sum.
So begins a cock and bull story,which involves a false desperate woman who wants to commit suicide on the Eiffel Tower,a true hooker who steals the dough,amnesia,a mental hospital,a shrink,a lunatic who wants to serve roasted Robespierre for lunch and even (Watch out for his two brief appearances)Louis De Funès fishing in a washbowl("You won't catch anything" "How do you know? Have you ever tried ?")...
After all sorts of incidents ,our hero finds a way to get a tender loving wife and to get rid of the burdensome cousin.
Naturally Richebé was not exactly new horizons in French cinema ,but he's really pretty good after all.
