Une nuit de folies (1934)
Directed by Maurice Cammage

Film Review

Adapted from the play Le Gars du milieu by Henri Hubert and Paul Chartrettes, Une nuit de folies is one of Fernandel's early comedies, one that is often overlooked owing to the fact that the comic actor plays a comparatively minor role in the proceedings (despite receiving top billing).  The film was directed by Maurice Cammage, who had already worked with Fernandel on the humorous short Ordonnance malgré lui (1932) and would subsequently direct him in several other feature-length comedies, most notably Les Bleus de la marine (1934), Les Cinq Sous de Lavarède (1939), Monsieur Hector (1940) and Un chapeau de paille d'Italie (1941).

As in virtually all of his early comedies, Fernandel breaks into song at one point in the narrative (Un verre de fine is not one of his more memorable numbers), and there are two other musical breaks, all provided by the prolific composer and songwriter of the period, Vincent Scotto.  The film's real showstopper is an astonishing ninety second sequence in which a naked woman performs an erotic dance (with a giant ball) for the amusement of Fernandel and the goggle-eyed habitués of what looks like Paris's most lubricious nightspot.  The censor was obviously taking a day off when this film turned up in his office.

Very different in character to the wacky farces to which Fernandel customarily lent his talents early in his career, Une nuit de folies is more a slice-of-life that takes us on an excursion into the sordid underbelly of Parisian life in the 1930s - a place where wealthy tourists bent on earthier pleasures find themselves unwittingly (or knowingly) in the company of the city's syphilis-ridden, drug-addicted lowlife.  The dearth of plot is made up for by the cast of colourful characters who, despite being obvious archetypes, are convincingly brought to life by some very capable actors.

Jacques Varennes makes the biggest impression as a pithy George Raft-style hoodlum.  Naturally suited for villainous roles with his deep voice, stony features and stiff frame, Varennes played the bad guy in many a Fernandel comedy - he is at his best in Jim la Houlette (1935) and Ne le criez pas sur les toits (1942) - before he gained recognition as a serious character actor, in part through his association with Sacha Guitry late in his career.  Lacking the banal humour and forced silliness of Fernandel's early films, Une nuit de folies feels more like a social critique than a comedy, one that offers a weird insight into the morals and tastes of 1930s Parisian society.

Film Synopsis

Bored with her stuffy bourgeois married life, Jacqueline d'Ermont decides to enjoy a night of revelry in Paris with Anatole, a man who is besotted with her.  The town's theatres and restaurants have lost their appeal to the young socialite, who thirsts for new experiences in less salubrious surroundings.  This is how she and Anatole come to end up in a seedy bar frequented by pimps, prostitutes, drugs pushers, crooks and tourists.  Little does Jacqueline know that her husband Paul is watching her every move and is surprised to find her in such a sordid place.  As Paul considers what he should do next, drugs pusher Julot lures an innocent barman Fernand into his nefarious schemes.  There will be trouble before the night is out, and if he is to rescue his marriage and win back Jacqueline Paul will have to prove that he is a real man - not so easy a task when there are gun-toting hoodlums like Le Frisé fighting to defend their territory...