La Belle Américaine (1961)
Directed by Robert Dhéry, Pierre Tchernia

Film Review

France's love affair with all things American in the twenty or so years following the end of the Second World War is palpably conveyed by this lively comedy, an ensemble piece that ropes in a considerable amount of comedy talent. Even the humour has a mostly American slant to it, with the slapstick of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin forming the basis for most of the gags. La Belle Américaine is essentially nothing more than one long series of comic episodes centred around an expensive American car which brings misfortune on its new owner - think of it as a mad comedic version of Anthony Asquith's The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964).

Whilst some of the comedy works well, the film soon becomes a tad repetitive. With none of the characters particularly well developed, they soon end up looking like an array of comicbook creations whose only role is to drive the scrappy narrative. The film was directed by Robert Dhéry who is probably best known as the director of the comic theatre troupe, Les Branquignols, seen in the 1954 French film, Ah! Les belles bacchantes. Dhéry stars in the film along side a number of his colleagues from Les Branquignols, including the Colette Brosset and Louis de Funès. Within a few years, the later would become a major star of French cinema, after the phenomenal success of Jean Girault's Pouic-Pouic (1963). Dhéry and de Funès would subsequently work together on Le Petit baigneur (1968).

Film Synopsis

The life of an ordinary factory worker Marcel is completely transformed when he manages to acquire an expensive new American car, a Cadillac convertible, for the price of a second-hand motorcycle.  His apparent initial stroke of good fortune is swiftly followed by a run of bad luck, as he loses his job and then endures the revenge of the car's previous owner.  Fortunately, his friends are on hand to help him out, seduced by the glamour of his American car...