The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe

This comedy/mystery is simply delightful. You can call it a masterpiece of its genre(s) or you can just enjoy its great timing, hilarious physical comedy, its story that involves spies, murders, and a sexy blonde (Mireille Darc) in a dress you have to see to believe. Pierre Richar is excellent as the blond man of the title who one day became a "person of great interest" for two rival departments in the French secret service. As we know, it is very difficult to find a black cat in a dark room especially if the cat is not in the room and that's what the experienced employees of the secret service try to do - to find the sense in the routine activities of a man they are convinced is an important spy and who is in reality an absent-minded and oblivious violinist and the object of the practical jokes by his fellow musicians.

If it is not enough, there is a soundtrack written by Vladimir Cosma and performed by the King of Pan Flute, a famous Romanian musician Gheorghe Zamfir. Cosma recalls that when he was composing the music for The Tall Blond Man, he was thinking of the movie "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" and he wanted to use the elements of the Eastern European music. His idea to use the themes of Romanian doinas played by Zamfir was a stroke of genius. Once you hear the melodies, you won't be able to forget them.

YES to the movie and YES!! to the soundtrack

This is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. Pierre Richard is HILARIOUS! The script is tight as a mosquito's leotard and the action unrelenting. The story, based in part on a serious of government agencies play SPY vs. SPY games and bureaucratic CYA, arbitrarily pick a fall guy for their foil and who better than a musician hooked on modern music. The amazing thing is Richard's apartment where the walls are covered with pictures of modern composers, dominated by a huge picture of Stravinsky. And, the riotious aside when he tells the girl trying to pump information from him that he has a "secret." When all of the spying evesdroppers stretch their ears to hear, he announces, "Je compose." Is this some new code? They look from one another as Pierre takes his violin and warns, "Mais, elle est moderne," and launches into a chromatic allegro ala Stravinsky. The movie goes on with great slapstick abetted by the marvelous timing of Richard who is rivalled only by Peter Sellars in that means. As the other reviewer noted, there was a decent American version with Tom Hanks, who played the part a lot more low key than Richard. I've seen this movie more than a dozen times and plan to see it again soon. Each time I find some new twist that gives me an extra tickle. Check it out! On s'amuse assez avec ce film-ci!

This film was one of the most successful crossover French films of the 70's, and for very good reason. It is a delightful spoof of the spy genre, with a hapless musician unknowingly caught in the middle of a war between two factions of the French secret service. The plotting is extremely funny, the directing tight, the music (played by Zamphir on the pan pipe!) unforgettable, and above all the ensemble acting by a stellar cast will have you watching this again and again. Pierre Richard, playing the title character, brings an unusual elegance and sense of class to what would otherwise be a Woody Allen-esque role (it was played by Tom Hanks in the American re-make). Mireille Darc is the femme fatale, and there were quite few teenage boys in the 70's who never got over the image of her in a jaw-dropping backless dress. The rest of the group, from the cool head of the Secret Service, to the efficient but misguided spies, to the bumbling best friend and his wife, all leave indelible memories. Thirty years after having seen this film for the first time, I can remember everything with crystal clarity, and my own kids have found it just as delightful. Go ahead and rent this one for truly fun evening, you will love it!

An earlier comment was sophisticated slapstick, but while there are the occasional pokes in the eye -- the scene where an exploding cigar goes off and all the spies silenced weapons go "pfffht" (no blood, just lots of people falling over with silly expressions) is wonderful -- I think I'd instead classify this as sophisticated silliness. Reminds me of the old David Niven movies, except much less restrained.

But I also want to point out that the movie ends with a quote: "Every person is entitled to the respect of his or her private life. Penal Code, Article 9." Indeed, the wry tongue in cheek is pointed squarely at the absurdities of the French intelligence community. I find looking at the movie in that light adds another bit of fun to identifying the "good guys" and the bad guys.

Well worth your time.

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then Hollywood has paid homage to this Gallic gem. And, as usual, the original is better than the Hollywood copy.

The best description of this classic is the oxymoron: sophisticated slapstick. But there is much more. Like the category list suggests (comedy, mystery, and more) there's something for everybody, and you needn't be a Francophile to enjoy it.

Simply delightful!