It's by no means easy to describe Robert Dhéry's's La Belle Américaine, which marks Dhéry's (or his Branguignols'*) first cinematic as opposed to theatrical entrance. Many of the gang are here, such as Louis de Funès (as les frères Viralot (the commissaire de police and chief of staff where Dhéry works/worked)); Jean Lefebvre (as Chugnasse, the main accountant); Jean Carmet (as the petty crook after the car); Michel Serrault (as Chauveau the tramp); Christian Duvaleix (as the curé noctambule) Jacques Legras (as Riri the innkeeper); Robert Rollis (as Maurice Clapier (or Lapin)); Pierre Tchernia (as the speaker); Dhéry wife Colette Brosette (as Paulette, Dhéry's wife and the ice cream maker); and of course Dhéry himself as Marcel Perrignon.
Most of the chums (and this is very much a film de copains) live in a working-class cul-de-sac, Marcel being a factory worker. The fun starts when Marcel wants to buy a motor-bike from Alfred (Alfred Adam), although it's not in good condition and Paulette sees an American car advertised at a stuupidly cheap price. Here we have the important part of the film: the title La Belle Américaine is not, as may initially be thought, about a beautiful American girl but a beautiful American car. America, the American dream, has long been of fascination to the French: it's the vast land of opportunity, it's the inspiration behind many French films, perhaps the Nouvelle Vague in particular, it's where many French novels are set, it's the home of many of François Busnel's favourite books, etc. It's also where le Ministre du Commerce (Bernard Lavalette) would have preferred to be sent rather than Australia, but that's at the end of another story in this action-packed, hilarious movie.
Marcel goes to Mme Lucanzas's (who lives in the huppé 16e), and buys the car for the extremely cheap price of 45,000 sacs, or 450 new francs: Mme Lucanzas is selling it off for a song so Simone (Éliane d'Almeida), her late husband's secretary and former lover, can't get her hands on it. And so Marcel becomes the envy of the neighbourhood, more notably causing him to be sacked by the chief of staff: the boss M Jean (Bernard Dhéran) is jealous. This car will lead him to a few more problems, for instance being investigated by the police – such an expensive car in a working-class area must surely be stolen? And then he's hired by Simone as a chauffeur but refuses to sell the the car and is locked in the boot for a time.
But the car has a very positive side as his social life is buzzing with all the people wanting to go for a ride, including monsieur le Ministre du Commerce. And although Colette wrecks her brother Pierrot's ice cream cart by backing the car into it, as seen from the last three (coloured) minutes of this film, it can double as an ice cream van. A brilliant film with far too many crazy moments to go into here.
*Les Branquignols, a troupe de comédiens. was created by Robert Dhéry and Colette Brosset, and they were active from the 1940s to the 1970s.
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