Les Combinards (1966)
Directed by Juan Estelrich, Riccardo Pazzaglia

Film Review

Before he started making pornographic movies (under the name Patrick Aubin), director Jean-Claude Roy had some success with popular mainstream fare, one of his most enjoyable films being this daft comedy depicting the antics of a pair of hopeless conmen.  Les Combinards includes two short segments contributed by two other directors  - Juan Estelrich and Riccardo Pazzaglia - but it is Roy's part of the film that is the most entertaining, mainly because it features the combined comedic talents of Darry Cowl, Michel Serrault and Jacques Bernard.  In spite of a mediocre script, these comic performers manage to wring a fair number of laughs from the well-worn scenario and, whilst the film hardly rates as a classic, it makes for an entertaining little timewaster.  Cowl was most often at his best when paired with another contrasting comedy performer, and the Cowl-Bernard double act works a treat.  However, it is only when Serrault shows up, in the second half of the film, that the urge to laugh becomes irresistible.

Film Synopsis

Léo and Claude are two professional con artists who, having run out of ideas, turn to the newspapers in search of inspiration.  Two stories capture their attention.  In Spain, a man from the country falls foul of two swindlers who con him into buying a tramway in the city.  In Naples, a cunning individual discovers that, by pretending he has an incurable illness after a stay in hospital, he can milk a nation's sympathy with the help of the national press.  Both of these scams have their merits but when Léo and Claude try to imitate them they fall flat on their faces.  Undeterred by this setback, the two men then decide to start up their own bogus marriage business.  The scheme works well until our heroes fall foul of an even more unscrupulous fraudster who has the exact same idea...