The Adventures of Gerard is a somewhat silly romp set during the Napoleonic era featuring that career-went-nowhere semi-sexy Brit Peter McEnery. McEnery is exceptionally handsome in a rakish kind of way -- in this movie, he always looks slightly unclean, like a 1970s porn star, sporting as he does the cheesiest of mustaches. But he keeps a twinkle in his eye, and his physical comedy is well-polished. He has a really nice body from the waist up, but the skinniness of his legs is reinforced by the military uniforms he wears in this movie, which are extraordinarily high-waisted.
McEnery as Gerard plays some kind of messenger, a low-ranking French officer ferrying missives among the regiments of the French army occupying Spain. Hilarity ensues, mostly involving Claudia Cardinale as a sexy Spanish lass doing her best Sophia Loren imitation, with pouty lips and unkempt tresses. At one point, she is (thinly) disguised as a boy, but McEnery sees through her disguise (how could he not?!) and proceeds to seduce her (how could he?!). See what I mean about hilarity ensuing? Spain itself looks like the Old West as envisioned by Sergio Leone. And the movie will win no Oscars for Sound Effects Editing. I swear you can visualize the sound guys clapping coconuts together in the booth, timing their clangings to the fourfold footfalls of the equine cast.
This is a fun film. With its tongue-and-cheek dialog ("The Emperor himself approved my mustache!"), none-too-subtle sex humor, vigorous visual gags, hairbreadth escapes and coincidences, broad stereotypes (the English and their tea! and there is a whole fox-hunting sequence), and the time-honored technique of directly addressing the camera (which is a technique I like, when done well, which it is here), it is a genuine hoot. And McEnery has a subtlety about him. He can do a lot with a twist of his mustache or a raised eyebrow. He does sexy-stupid really well. Look for that all-purpose ethnic Eli Wallach as Napoleon.
McEnery as Gerard plays some kind of messenger, a low-ranking French officer ferrying missives among the regiments of the French army occupying Spain. Hilarity ensues, mostly involving Claudia Cardinale as a sexy Spanish lass doing her best Sophia Loren imitation, with pouty lips and unkempt tresses. At one point, she is (thinly) disguised as a boy, but McEnery sees through her disguise (how could he not?!) and proceeds to seduce her (how could he?!). See what I mean about hilarity ensuing? Spain itself looks like the Old West as envisioned by Sergio Leone. And the movie will win no Oscars for Sound Effects Editing. I swear you can visualize the sound guys clapping coconuts together in the booth, timing their clangings to the fourfold footfalls of the equine cast.
This is a fun film. With its tongue-and-cheek dialog ("The Emperor himself approved my mustache!"), none-too-subtle sex humor, vigorous visual gags, hairbreadth escapes and coincidences, broad stereotypes (the English and their tea! and there is a whole fox-hunting sequence), and the time-honored technique of directly addressing the camera (which is a technique I like, when done well, which it is here), it is a genuine hoot. And McEnery has a subtlety about him. He can do a lot with a twist of his mustache or a raised eyebrow. He does sexy-stupid really well. Look for that all-purpose ethnic Eli Wallach as Napoleon.
Tell Your Friends