Adémaï bandit d'honneur (1943)
Directed by Gilles Grangier

Film Review

The comedic talents of Noël-Noël, one of France's great comedy legends, are put to good use in this lively comedy, which was a notable box office hit and one of the more successful attempts to lift the spirits of a French cinema audience during the Occupation.  The film marks the directing debut of Gilles Grangier, who was given the job at the insistence of Noël-Noël, having worked as an assistant for over a decade to directors who included Sacha Guitry, Georges Lacombe and René Pujol.  Over the next two decades, Grangier would work with some of France's leading actors (Fernandel, Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura, Bourvil) and consistently deliver films (an eclectic mix of comedies and dramas) with mass appeal - classics such as Poisson d'avril (1954), Gas-Oil (1955) and La Cuisine au beurre (1963).

Adémaï bandit d'honneur is one of Grangier's more entertaining films, and this is almost entirely down to the unflaggingly funny performance from Noël-Noël, in another of his amusing fish-out-of-water roles.  With his Pinocchio nose, button eyes and seemingly painted on eyebrows, Noël-Noël looks more like something Walt Disney knocked up in a few seconds on a sketchpad than a human being - how could he ever have succeeded at anything other than comedy?  In the 1930s and 40s this likeable goon was (arguably) France's best loved comic actor and his screen persona (a cross-between Stan Laurel and Mr Bean) brought to life many a lacklustre film comedy and turned it into a rip-roaring success.

In Adémaï bandit d'honneur, Noël-Noël again plays his popular alter ego Adémaï Joseph, an amiable village idiot first seen in the 1932 short Adémaï et la nation armée, and then a series of films that included Adémaï au moyen âge (1934). This time our hero gets caught up in a vendetta on (where else) the island of Corsica, and resembles a rabbit who suddenly wakes up to find himself in the lion's cage at the zoo.  'You haven't a face like a Corsican', one character remarks at the start of the film.  'No, I've a face more like a...' Noël-Noël stammers.  'Yes,' his interlocutor replies.

Fortunately, the man that the hapless (and totally clueless) Adémaï has to kill turns out to be an old army pal (a dashing Georges Grey), so the hatchet is quickly buried and our hero can look forward to a nice peaceful holiday.  Unfortunately, this is Corsica, the one place on Earth where the phrase "nice peaceful holiday" has undercurrents of dark and bitter irony.  Before he knows it, Noël-Noël is at war with another clan rival (Alexandre Rignault), one who clearly means business.  No sooner has the enterprising Adémaï disposed of this adversary than he falls out with his army buddy, by getting amorously entwined with the gorgeous Gaby André (who shows us just why Corsica is nicknamed the Island of Beauty).  Thereafter, it's anyone's guess as to how this riotous western spoof will end up...   Alas, this was the last time that Noël-Noël appeared on screen as Adémaï.  The character appeared in one more film, Adémaï au poteau-frontière (1949), played by Paul Colline, the writer who had first created the character.

Film Synopsis

Adémaï decides to take a well-deserved holiday on the island of Corsica at the invitation of some distant relatives.  He is surprised to learn that his relatives are in the midst of a murderous vendetta with a rival clan.  He is even more surprised when he discovers that it is his turn, as the sole surviving male representative of his family, to conclude the vendetta.  It so happens that Adémaï's opponent is Mandolino, an old army friend of his.  Seeing no reason why they should continue the vendetta, Adémaï and Mandolino agree to keep up a pretence that they are gunning for each other.  But when they both fall in love with the same girl they find they have a good reason to fight one another for real...