Sur le plancher des vaches (1940)
Directed by Pierre-Jean Ducis

Film Review

Aviation-themed films became quite a popular sub-genre on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1930s and 1940s.  Jean Grémillion's Le Ciel est à vous (1944) and Henri Decoin's Au grand balcon (1949) are two well-known examples of the genre made in France, but before these comedy star Noël-Noël wrote and starred in a lesser known film, Sur le plancher des vaches, which struggles to bridge the gap between comedy and drama and is much duller than it deserves to be, given the calibre of its cast.  The film's inability to come to life can be put down to Pierre-Jean Ducis's completely uninspired direction, which pretty well eradicates any humour, charm or interest-value in Noël-Noël's original screenplay and makes the film appear much longer than it is.  A director who deserves his place in obscurity, Ducis had previously helmed the equally forgettable Fernandel vehicle Le Cavalier Lafleur (1934).

Noël-Noël may have been an immense star - the most popular French comic actor of his generation - but he was as well-placed as any actor to portray Mr Average.  In Sur le plancher des vaches, Noël-Noël  is the epitome of the Français moyen (two words that are invariably appended to his name whenever it is uttered), a downtrodden clerk who, improbably, becomes bitten by the flying bug.  The character's love of flying has less to do with a thirst for adventure and more to do with an infatuation with a feisty aviatrix, played by the ever-lovely comedienne Betty Stockfeld.  Pauline Carton, René Génin and Raymond Cordy are three more familiar faces that help to enliven this stilted comedy-drama, although the only scenes that stick in the memory are those depicting the aviation stunts - these were presumably what audiences most wanted to see, and in this at least they couldn't have been disappointed.  It's worth noting that appearing in a minor role (as a flying instructor) is a young Gilles Grangier.  Noël-Noël would remember him and gave him his first directing job on a later comedy, Adémaï bandit d'honneur (1943).

Film Synopsis

Jean Durand is a modest office clerk who is tired of being treated as an object of ridicule by his boss and colleagues.  He cannot believe his good fortune when he wins a lottery prize, but is less heartened when he discovers that his prize in an aeroplane.  Encouraged by a daring young aviatrix, Jeanne Couret, Jean is soon taking flying lessons in the hope of gaining a pilot's licence. Jean soon becomes wildly infatuated with the aviatrix, to the amusement of his friend Maurice.  When Jeanne goes missing during a flight across the Mediterranean, Jean decides to come to her rescue, but ends up crashing in some out-of-the-way spot...