Outstanding location shooting in two of Europe's most photogenic countries (Italy and France), a comic 'caper' plot with guns that don't really kill plus two of the greatest comedians in French cinema - Louis de Funes and Bourvil - has to be an unbeatable parlay and in fact the following year they did it again - or something very, very similar in Le Grande Vadrouille in which the director of both films, ex-actor Gerard Oury, brought his daughter, Danielle Thompson, on board as co-scriptwriter. It was also a nice touch to name the Louis de Funes character after the Armenian-American writer William Saroyan, now largely forgotten but once hugely popular whose schtick was humorous whimsey. The plot won't really stand scrutiny under a harsh light; Bourvil's 2CV is totally written off by the roller of de Funes even before he has left Paris on his proposed driving holiday in Italy. Knowing a rube when he sees one de Funes makes Bourvil an offer he can't refuse; the 'loan' of a Cadillac which needs to be driven from Naples to Bordeaux plus a ticket to Naples and spending money. What Bourvil doesn't know, of course, is that the car is bristling with gold, heroin and diamonds and how unwittingly he gets rid of these en route is half the fun. Perhaps a tad dated forty years on but still one of the best 'feelgoods' around.
Review of The Sucker
