Le Capitan (1960)
Directed by André Hunebelle

Film Review

After pursuing a successful career as a master glassmaker for many years, André Hunebelle suddenly discovered a passion for filmmaking in the late 1940s and within a decade he was the most consistently successful filmmaker France had ever known.  Hunebelle's first box office hit was Les Trois mousquetaires (1953), a lavish adaptation of the famous Alexandre Dumas classic that instantly made the swashbuckler a fantastically popular genre in French cinema.  Confident of repeating this success, the director followed up with more of the same, Cadet Rousselle (1954), before helming what would be the biggest hit of his career, Le Bossu.

Attracting an audience of just under six million, Le Bossu came along at just the right time for its lead actor Jean Marais, who had acquired prominence through his association with Jean Cocteau - notably on the films La Belle et la bête (1946) and Orphée (1949) - but who was now badly in need of a career boost.  With his heroic profile, solid frame and athletic prowess, Jean Marais was perfectly suited to play the swashbuckling action hero, and he had no qualms about performing his own stunts (even though he was by now in his mid-forties).

It was on the back of the success of Le Bossu that Jean Marais had his triumphant second wind, becoming a massive box office draw in a succession of big budget period pieces.  These alternated more seriously minded productions, such as Jean Delannoy's La Princesse de Clèves (1961), with crowdpleasing action romps like Pierre Gaspard-Huit's Le Capitaine Fracasse (1961) and Hunebelle's Le Miracle des loups (1961).

Le Bossu paired Marais with another notable talent, Bourvil, who first found fame as a comedy performer but would soon become one of the most popular movie actors of his generation.  Bourvil had worked with Hunebelle previously on Cadet Rousselle and was glad to be offered a similar role in Le Bossu, one that suited his 'country bumpkin' persona at the time.  The pairing of such contrasting personalities as Bourvil and Jean Marais was both inspired and a hit with audiences, and it led Hunebelle to give the double act a second outing in Le Capitan (1960), which was his third most popular film (5.2 million spectators).

In stark contrast to Marais's subsequent pairing with another comedy giant (Louis de Funès) in Hunebelle's Fantômas films, the actors play off one another to great effect, although the film could probably have done without the ill-judged musical numbers intended to capitalise on Bourvil's popularity as a comic singer.  Guy Delorme and Lise Delamare are the only standout performers in a cast of mostly forgotten actors, not surprisingly as the film was intended to be a showcase for its two leads.   

Le Capitan is not the most memorable of swashbucklers from this era, although it achieves a harmonious balance of comedy and bravura action-adventure, with set-piece fight scenes that are every bit as impressive as those in comporable Hollywood productions of this time.  Taken from a novel of the same title by Michel Zévaco, the plot tends to become tangled in a few places, but the unflagging pace and good-natured fun of the production carry it through, making it perfect entertainment for any family audience.

Film Synopsis

France, 1616.  After the assassination of Henri IV, the queen mother Marie de Médicis governs France in the name of the young king, Louis XIII.  In this, she is assisted by her devoted minister, Concino Concini, who, encouraged by his ambitious wife, intends seizing the reins of power for himself.  To this end, Concini invokes a reign of terror that is felt all across the country, strengthening his powerbase by ruthlessly crushing all opposition in Paris and the provinces.  Concini plans to depose Louis and replace him with another pretender to the throne, one who will be much more amenable to his personal ambitions.

One of Concini's victims is the Marquis de Teynac.  When the latter's castle comes under attack a brave young sword master, François de Capestan, comes to his aid.  In the ensuing tussle, the marquis is slain and the resourceful chevalier is badly wounded.  Had it not been for the intervention of a mysterious brown-haired woman, François would surely have perished there.

Once he has recovered, François attends a meeting of nobles to agree a plan of action against the villainous Concini.  En route for Paris to lend his services to the king, François meets a likeable strolling player, Cogolin, who soon proves to be a dependable ally.  Together, the two men resume their journey and are soon caught up in a series of adventures that take them ever closer to their formidable adversary, the eternally wicked Concini...