Blanc comme neige (1948)
Directed by André Berthomieu

Film Review

Such was the immense popularity of Pas si bête in 1947 (it attracted an audience of over six million) that Bourvil became an instant box office magnet and, as a result, the formula of this film was replayed ad nauseum over the next few years, effectively typecasting the comic performer in the role of the likeable goon for the bulk of his career.  André Berthomieu, the director of Bourvil's first hit comedy, achieved similar success with his second, Blanc comme neige, which is not only similar to Pas si bête but also virtually identical to Berthomieu's next two collaborations with Bourvil: Le Coeur sur la main (1949) and Le Roi Pandore (1959), not surprisingly as the comic star plays the same character in all four films, a likeable idiot named Léon Ménard.  Blanc comme neige is a fairly undistinguished comedy which is barely sustained by its pedestrian plot and few wearisome gags, but Bourvil's amiable presence has somehow prevented it from tumbling into obscurity (it's hard to believe that such a lacklustre film could possibly have drawn an audience of 3.7 million on its first release).  As in all of Bourvil's early films, the highpoint is an infantile musical number sung by the star himself, this one being C'est l'piston.  If nothing else, it makes a nice soporific.

Film Synopsis

Léon Ménard travels many kilometres from his home in the country to find work in Paris, with the intention that one day soon he will marry his girlfriend Charlotte.  Fortune appears to be smiling on Léon.  Not long after his arrival in the capital he is accosted by a strange man named Bob, through whose intervention he gets a job as a night porter in a hotel.  Little does Léon know that Bob is planning to break into the hotel so that he can help himself to the jewels of a wealthy Dutchman, Monsieur Van Dongen.  The gullible Léon is the perfect stooge for Bob's criminal exploit, and sure enough once the crime has been committed it isn't long before the country bumpkin is arrested and charged with the theft.  Charlotte demonstrates her resourceful and devotion to Léon by unmasking the real criminals and bringing them to justice...