Pas si bête (1947)
Directed by André Berthomieu

Film Review

Pas si bête would be a pretty inconsequential film were it not for the fact that it launched the screen career of one of French cinema's most fondly remembered icons, Bourvil.  At the time, Bourvil was better known as a singer, achieving national fame through his 1945 hit song Crayons.  His early film roles allowed him to play the sympathetic rural clown that he had initially created for the stage, and after a supporting role in Jean Dréville's La Ferme du pendu (1945), he landed his first leading role in Pas si bête, the film that made him an overnight star of popular cinema.

The film, an unsophisticated comedy that was a perfect vehicle for its lead actor, was directed by André Berthomieu, a remake of the film with which he had begun his own career back in 1928.  Berthomieu was a prolific director who was happy to devote his modest talents to lowbrow fare such as this, unchallenging ephemera that would appeal far more to mainstream cinema audiences than the critics.  He did helm a few more substantial films - notably the Jules Berry comedy Le Mort en fuite (1936) and moving melodrama L'Ange de la nuit (1944) - but for the most part his filmography is pretty undistinguished, the greater part of his work now almost completely forgotten.

Berthomieu may have been a journeyman but he had a knack of getting the best out of his lead performers.  With his comic flair and instantly engaging personality, Bourvil was destined for stardom and, under Berthomieu's light-touch direction, he proves that he is both an irresistible comedian and an accomplished screen actor.  The fact that he also sings several numbers in the film - including the show-stopper Quand même - no doubt added greatly to its appeal, making up for the lacklustre storyline and an obvious lack of incident.

Bourvil and Berthomieu would work together on an immediate sequel - Blanc comme neige (1948) - and then two other films, Le Coeur sur la main (1949) and Le Roi Pandore (1950).  Pas si bête may seem unbearably bland today but in its day it was a phenomenal success (with an audience of 6.2 million it was the third most popular French film of 1967).  Bourvil would go to achieve even greater box office success after this, culminating in the triumph of La Grande vadrouille, in which he partnered another comedy legend, Louis de Funès.

Film Synopsis

Léon Ménard is not quite so stupid as he seems.  His experience of the world may be limited, he may have the air of a country bumpkin, but this gauche Normandy peasant has a keen eye when it comes to detecting schemers and charlatans.  One day, Léon is summoned by his uncle Henri, a wealthy industrialist, to his chateau for a family get-together.  Little does he suspect that, on entering the ancient homestead, he is walking into a nest of vipers.

First there is Gaby Moreuil, a seductive actress who plans to marry Henri so that she can get her hands on his fortune. Then there is the Count de Bellemont, an impoverished nobleman who intends grabbing a share of Henri's wealth by getting his son Didier to marry the industrialist's over-trusting daughter, Nicole.  Léon sees through all of these wicked machinations and, by keeping up the pretence that he is naive simpleton, he sets out to thwart the gold-digging exploits of his entourage.

His plot exposed, the blackhearted Count makes a hasty exit with Didier, just before the sincerity of the latter's feelings for Nicole are made apparent to Léon and his uncle.  Henri shows his magnanimity by not only sanctioning his daughter's marriage, but also by appointing Didier to run one of his factories.  A double wedding is hastily arranged, with Henri opting to walk down the aisle not with Gaby, but with the woman who truly loves him, Rosine.