Friend of the Family

I didn't find much funny in this 40-year-old French comedy. Maybe it was funny when it was released, or maybe it was funny (is still funny?) mostly to the French. Maybe my sense of humor is warped.

The plot and circumstances of the characters in this movie reminded me of many comic operas I've seen. Without the great music, these operas would be trivial as art.

The `plot' centers on the relationship of two families. Leon `Patate' (potato) Rollo, a toy inventor, is married to Edith, a chic store owner. Leon and Edith have a teenage daughter, Alexa, the most popular girl in school. Noel Carradine, a former classmate of Leon, is a handsome, famous and rich industrialist. His wife, Veronique, is elegant and beautiful, but vulnerable to M. Carradine's philandering.

Leon and Noel did not get along well in school, and haven't since. However, Leon needs financing for his newest toy invention, and is willing to let bygones be bygones if Noel will loan him money. Noel, however, is not about to serve as `the Bank of France' for this old classmate.

Some of the `jokes' in this movie derive from Leon's inventions. There is a sausage slicer made from bicycle parts, a monkey doorbell, a calendar toothbrush, and several `Rube Goldberg' creations. Other `laughs' come from mistaken interpretations of phone calls and notes. There are several slapstick routines that you've seen done better elsewhere (e.g., Leon runs head on into a glass door, a `pistol' turns out to be a cigarette lighter).

This is a comic farce, but more farce than comic.

I reviewed this movie as part of a project at the Library of Congress. I've named the project FIFTY: 50 Notable Films Forgotten Within 50 Years. As best I can determine, this film, like the other forty-nine I've identified, has not been on video, telecast, or distributed in the U.S. since its original release.