The Gendarme in New York

THE TROOPS IN NEW YORK is a comedy film, which is dovetailed between a petty bourgeois problem, charming crime and satirical idiocy. This is the first sequel of sympathetic gendarmes from Saint-Tropez.

The gendarmes of St. Tropez are invited to New York City to a law enforcement conference. They are supposed to travel alone without spouses or children. The gendarmes are seriously preparing for the conference and the challenges that await them there. However, Cruchot's daughter Nicole wants to go to New York as it may be her only chance. He forbids her to go because disobeying an order may hurt his career. Nicole is a rebellious beauty who does not listen his father just yet .... therefore an adventure in New York can begin...

An abundance of a cheap humor is seasoned with parodic scenes, which should guarantee a good time. However, I think that, hilarious problems with the language barrier, a rebellious daughter and a rivalry with an opposing camp are not sufficient to demonstrate the petty-bourgeois confusion in a big city. Simply, it lacks the charm of the gendarme, which is closely associated with the scenery of Saint-Tropez. Extremely comic plots can not reach a culmination.

Louis de Funès as Ludovic Cruchot is again consistent with his energetic performances. Michel Galabru as warrant officer Jérôme Gerber gets more space next to Cruchot, and still, he is subordinate in comic pursuit of the rebellious Nicole. Geneviève Grad as Nicole Cruchot is witty beauty, who still can not cope with hilarious appearances of her patriarchal father. Other characters are quite closed. That's wrong.

I am giving to all films from Gandarme series a 10 out of pure nostalgy. These days around New Year they played on TV all the films and though I can admit that now they do not seem as funny as they once were... still they gave you a really good feeling.

Scene with english lessons is really funny - my tailor is not rich / my flowers are beautiful

The gendarme-series are all my favourites. This story is taking place in New York where there's is hold an international police-conference. Cruchot is searching for his daughter, who is matched up by a tabloidreporter with an Italian policeman. Hilarious are the chases in the cab and at a building construction. A tribute to the Westside story is the scene at the playground, where Cruchot gets involved with some streetgangs. Funes is as always the eyecatcher, but his daughter played by the lovely Genieviève Grad is also very funny. A typical European sixties comedy, with some Hollywood elements. 4 out of 5.

Don't question the decision to take Funes character from Saint Tropez to New York and America. You will spoil the fun you can have. With him the usual suspects come with him (including a nun from the first movie, with almost no function other than being an inside joke for those who've seen the first movie) to the US. Including his dear daughter, which is to be expected.

And again she takes center stage one way or the other. Story wise this seems at least a bit more tight and coherent than the first one, but that is up to you to decide. This also has things like "yellow-face" and stereotypes. You sure shouldn't be too politically correct or easily offended to have some fun with this one ...

It's been a year since we last saw Cruchot (Louis de Funes) and his merry men. That makes it 1965, and the policemen of St. Tropez has been chosen to represent France in a Police Congress in New York.

Cruchot's daughter Nicole (Geneviève Grad) wants to see the USA, but her father will not allow her to join them. The young woman is determined though, and sneaks aboard the ferry. Trying not to let her father find out, she hides from him and without a cabin she sleeps on the deck.

There's a lot of action in this film, more than in the first, both on the ferry and after they have arrived in New York. The two most memorable scenes are first a quite clever little take on "West Side Story" and a baseball fight, that shows that Cruchot has thunder in his bat.

Also worth mentioning is a call back to the first film, where a nun repeats her part, this time in a car in New York!

Nicole finds a room at YWCA, where they don't want the presence of Cruchot.

All in all worth seeing, probably most for the viewers that were born around the time of the making of the film.