Tout va très bien madame la marquise (1936)
Directed by Henry Wulschleger

Film Review

It is not unusual for a film to unleash a song on the world that would become a rip-roaring success.  It is somewhat rarer that the reverse happens, namely a hit song would result in a film, and this is why Tout va très bien madame la marquise (1936) remains something of an oddity.  Paul Misraki's song of the same title, performed by Ray Ventura and his 'Collégiens', was one of the musical hits of 1935, a song that gave rise to a phrase that was highly pertinent in France of the mid-1930s and is still in use to this day ("Tout va très bien madame la marquise" translates as "Everything's fine", in a way that implies everything is far from fine, typically in reference to the Euro, immigration and the overall state of the French economy).

The film opens by crashing into a somewhat chaotic rendition of the first few verses of Misraki's song before plunging into an even more chaotic farce, which is just about held together by the comedic talents of French comedy legend Noël-Noël.  The latter is happily singing along with Ventura and his pals when he accidentally burns down his employer's château.  Naturally, the marquise (a wonderfully waspish Marguerite Moreno) is none to impressed by this example of life imitating art and Noël-Noël is sacked on the spot and ends up having to play the Breton buffoon to the delight of a party of foreign tourists.

After this stuttering beginning, the film finally takes off when our gormless hero arrives in Paris and creates more pandemonium than the entire German army would do five years later.  Tout va très bien madame la marquise is in no way as inspired or as funny as the song that gave rise to it, but it is nonetheless an enjoyable romp, thanks mainly to Noël-Noël's single-handed destruction of Breton culture and his humorous portrayal of a character that appears to have been catapulted from the pages of an Hergé comic book.  Whereas most French comedies of the 1930s now struggle to raise even a grudging titter, this one at least exercises those laughter lines and may even provoke a belt-bursting chortle or two.  Still, you can't help wondering that the film started out with a different title and grabbed the title of Misraki's song as a profit-motivated afterthought...

Film Synopsis

Yonnik Le Ploumanech loses his job as a servant when his negligence causes a fire at the Brittany château of the Marquise de Ploevic.  Having played the Breton yokel for the amusement of tourists, Yonnik is offered the chance to appear in a revue at a top Paris music hall.  Arriving in the capital, his first thought is to visit his sister, who he believes is employed as a maid to a rich society lady.  In fact, Yonnik's sister, Marie-Rosie, is a kept woman, the mistress of the Marquis des Esnards, and she has no intention of revealing this to her simple-minded brother...