During World War II, two French civilians and a downed British Bomber Crew set out from Paris to cross the demarcation line between Nazi-occupied Northern France and the South. From there they will be able to escape to England. First, they must avoid German troops – and the consequences of their own blunders.
Bourvil
Augustin Bouvet, house painter
Louis de Funès
Stanislas Lefort, conductor at the Paris Opera
Terry-Thomas
Squadron Leader Sir Reginald Brook, Royal Air Force
Claudio Brook
Peter Cunningham
Mike Marshall
Aircraftman Alan MacIntosh, Royal Air Force
Marie Dubois
Juliette
Pierre Bertin
Juliette's grandfather, owner of the Guignol theater
Andréa Parisy
Sister Marie-Odile
Mary Marquet
Mother Superior of the Hospices de Beaune
Colette Brosset
Madame Germaine
Benno Sterzenbach
Major Achbach
Henri Génès
Keeper of the Vincennes zoo with the Occitan accent
Paul Préboist
Fisherman in the boat
Sieghardt Rupp
Lieutenant Sturmer
Guy Grosso
The talkative bassoonist of the Paris Opera orchestra
Michel Modo
Cross-eyed German machine gunner
Rudy Lenoir
German soldier on patrol
Jacques Bodoin
Méphistophélès from Faust at the Paris Opera
Reinhard Kolldehoff
German corporal
Helmuth Schneider
German officer of the dining car
Hans Meyer
Otto Weber, elegant SS gruppenführer
Mag-Avril
Old lady in Juliette's building
Gabriel Gobin
Resistance fighter, stagehand at the Paris Opera
Paul Mercey
Mustachioed man at the Turkish Baths
Pierre Roussel
Peter's table neighbor in the dining car
Pierre Bastien
Plombin
Peter Jacob
German general celebrating his birthday at “L’Hôtel du Globe”
Noël Darzal
Lucien
Jacques Sablon
Bébert
Jean Droze
Talkative bassoonist of the Paris Opera orchestra (uncredited)
Catherine Marshall
Nun at the Hospices de Beaune (uncredited)
Jean-Pierre Posier
Patrick, mechanic (uncredited)
Alice Field
Parisian prostitute (uncredited)
Georges Atlas
Gestapo policeman at Augustin's house (uncredited)
Rémy Julienne
German biker receiving a pumpkin (uncredited)
Anne Berger
Marguerite from Faust at the Paris Opera (uncredited)
Guy Bonnafoux
Turkish bths employee / German officer (uncredited)
Clément Michu
Railway postal worker at the station (uncredited)
Konrad von Bork
German Colonel (uncredited)
Jerry Brouer
German soldier (uncredited)
Percival Russel
German sentry knocked out (uncredited)
George Birt
Harry, gunner, Royal Air Force (uncredited)
Nicolas Bang
John, bomber, Royal Air Force (unaccredited)
Raymond Pierson
German soldier (uncredited)
Christian Brocard
Station employee (uncredited)
Sacha Tarride
The first boy (unaccredited)
Lionel Vitrant
Barbot (uncredited)
Anthony Stuart
Dick (uncredited)
Claude Salez
German officer (uncredited)
Fred Fischer
German colonel (uncredited)
Édouard Pignon
Extra at the Paris Opera (uncredited)
Jean Minisini
German soldier (uncredited)
Joachim Westhoff
Actor from Faust at the Paris Opera (uncredited)
Tony Rödel
German non-commissioned officer (uncredited)
Georges-Fréderic Dehlen
German colonel (uncredited)
Guy Fox
The fat guy (uncredited)
Jean Landret
Guide in Chaillot (deleted scene) (uncredited)
Charly Constant
Ludwig (uncredited)
Rolph Spath
German aide-de-camp (uncredited)
Gérard Martin
Harpist of the Paris Opera orchestra (uncredited)
Danièle Thompson
Extra (uncredited)
Georges Dehneli
German Commander (uncredited)
Raoul Gola
Pianist (uncredited)
Horst Miessner
First German in the hammam (uncredited)
Jean-François Masson
Second German in the hammam (uncredited)
Bernard Mermod
Non-commissioned officer, clerk at the Kommandantur (uncredited)
Gary Ramm
ilot of the German observation plane that follows the gliders (uncredited)
Claude Rouillard
Second fisherman in the boat (uncredited)
Georges Ruseckis
SS chief in Paris (uncredited)
Joachim Weshoff
Faust at the Paris Opera (uncredited)
Director, Screenplay
Gérard Oury
Dialogue
André Tabet
Dialogue
Georges Tabet
Screenplay
Danièle Thompson
Screenplay
Marcel Jullian
Writer
Jean-Charles Tacchella
February 10, 2023
7
I'd watched this entertainingly farcical French wartime comedy for about half hour before I realised that the chap who looked like Terry-Thomas was, actually, Terry-Thomas! He, like everyone else here, is in his element as an RAF bomber crew find themselves shot down over Paris and dependent on a rather disparate selection of people to try and keep them from the hands of the Gestapo, and to help smuggle them out of the city and to some semblance of safety. It has all the hallmarks of a slightly less bawdy "Carry-On" film with some characterful performances from Bouvril ("Bouvet") and the increasingly amusing Louis de Funès as the suitably over-the-top orchestral maestro "Lefort". Neither gent is really equipped to guide our hapless trio of airmen out of their own bathrooms, much less from the grasp of the Nazis - but with the help of some silk parachutes, cunning disguises, nuns and horses - well who'd bet against them? Unlike many other films of this genre, this is actually funny. Sure, you can readily predict what is likely to happen, and some of the misunderstandings do have you wondering how was that even possible, but the ensemble cast including an on form Andréa Parisy and Benno Sterzenbach as the (no so) menacing "Maj. Achbach" give this just a soupçon of class that belies it's roots. Dated? Well yes, but still surprisingly enjoyable to watch.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
French
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00