Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

ElMaruecan82 The undeniability of "The Great Stroll" as the greatest French comedy has somewhat been shaken by the passing of half a century and a few trivia facts. The film held the record of the highest-grossing French movie for forty-two years before being dethroned by "Welcome to the Chti's" and "Intouchables". And since humor is a very fluctuating element of human perception, I suspect a larger portion of French population wouldn't call "The Great Stroll" the greatest French comedy of all time. But they couldn't be more wrong. Indeed, "The Great Stroll" is to French Cinema what "Some Like it Hot" is to Hollywood, kids might laugh at Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill, their parents might miss the National Lampoon or Jim Carrey's movies, and their grandparents some Lewis and Martin or Abbott and Costello films, but Billy Wilder's classic is the one to reconcile all generations. That's "The Great Stroll" effect, there's something just timeless about this film, maybe because it is set in world war II, a page of History that still fascinates the younger generation, or because it reunites two immortal comedic icons, directed by a man who had a flair for good comedy, or just because it is one of these instances where you got the right cast with the right story and the right timing: it just can't fail even if it tried to.And it sure didn't, 17 million viewers is still an honorable score by today's standards especially at a time where French population was one-fourth smaller and when there was no Internet, not even TV publicity to create the buzz. But "The Great Stroll" was beyond these needs, it was reliant on the popularity of two great comedians and only their talent ensured a positive word-of-mouth… that and the success of their previous pairing in "The Sucker". No one knew how it was going to work, their acting styles were as opposite as their body frames but they completed each other as if they've been a duo for years. "The Sucker" met with success although Bourvil and De Funès were seldom on the same scene, but the test was conclusive and proved Oury that time had come for these two 'messieurs' to share the screen a little longer than that."The Great Stroll" didn't miss that opportunity and as soon as the two men are put together, it's the beginning of a great buddy-movie through France in the midst of the German Occupation. But Oury isn't in a rush, it takes almost half an hour before the two leads meet because the priority is to tell a story, gags will flood naturally. So we have three English paratroopers escaping from German anti-aircraft defense to find themselves flying over Paris, the commander, spotting a generous mustache orders everyone to leave the plane and meet in the Turkish bath, their code is "Tea for Two". The man lands on the famous Vincennes' Zoo, the two others cross the paths of municipal painter Augustin Bouvet (Bourvil) and hot-tempered opera conductor Stanislas Lefort (Louis de Funès). Despite their initial reluctance, they help the British aviators and go to the rendezvous in the' hammam, which leads to the first classic scene when both men whistle "Tea for Two" making eyes with the one big mustached man wondering what on earth is going on. Finally, the historical encounter happens through a hilarious exchange of involuntary homoerotic subtext. Bourvil and De Funès stare at each other, with a weird glee on their eyes, and say : "are you?" "you are". At that moment, the story takes off, driven by the eternal contrast between the blue-collar simpleton and the pedant educated man. De Funès is so odious and bossy that poor Bourvil can't help but obey such orders as giving his shoe, his bike and his shoulders, his awkward walking with tight shoes and his pathetic protests became the most defining traits of his 'lovable loser' character. "The Great Stroll" doesn't overstuff the film with gags but narrates a genuinely touching adventure of two Frenchmen who overcome their weaknesses and act with bravura and humanity. And what a lesson for today's advocates of political correctness that people who lived during the war, much more Oury, a Jewish director, had no problem ridiculing the Nazis and even showing them playing musical chairs in one of the film's most defining sequences. Indeed, this is a comedy that is not trying to make a political statement whatsoever; it has no other intent than making you laugh. But as a way to acknowledge the gravity of the context, there are two dramatic moments where each of the two men save one's life from a German patrol and gets a "thank you". Drama isn't gratuitous as it allows the bond between the two men to grow into friendship. And on their own, each one gives his personal little touch, Bourvil is in love with the beautiful Marie Dubois and provides that bit of tenderness, while De Funès' struggle with his wig or the snoring of an overweight Nazi officer provides the slapstick. The film works on many levels, it has action, tenderness, screwball comedy and… instinct. Indeed, the most memorable sequences was ad-libbed. Instead of falling on Bourvil's shoulders and then on the ground, De Funès simply stays on the shoulders and lets Bourvil carry him. It is not just the most defining moment of the film, but of French cinema, the two giants, writing a page of French cinema's history. And "The Great Stroll" is carried by the two performances as confidently as Bourvil carried De Funès' on his shoulders, without letting him fall. Oury would write the "Delusion of Grandeur" with the two men in mind, but Bourvil's passing in 1970 deprived French cinema from what could have been a great trilogy. We'd have to 'content' ourselves with "The Great Stroll" which is simply French comedy's finest hour.

Coventry In France, but also in the neighboring countries like Belgium (where yours truly lives), "La Grande Vadrouille" is more than just a cinematic classic… It's a cultural monument and even national heritage! I certainly don't intend to sound pretentious, but I doubt if such a movie could ever exist in the United States. Why? Because this film is patriotic and satirical at the same time, the script is chock-full of clichés and stereotypes whilst the humor doesn't necessarily rely on clichés and stereotypes, and although the subject matter deals with the depressing events of World War II – forever one of the darkest pages in the world's history – the tone of the film remains courteous and innocent at all times. The Nazis in this film are naturally the bad guys but for once they aren't depicted as inhuman monsters, which is probably the main reason why "La Grande Vadrouille" is also enormously successful in Germany! And last but not least, the script respects the language differences per country! The French simply speak French - or English with extremely heavy accents – while the English speak English and the Germans speak German! I don't see that happening in Hollywood, to be honest. The film received the funny but rather hokey sounding English title "Don't Look Now, We're being shot at", but actually "La Grande Vadrouille" simply means something like "The Big Stroll" or "The Giant Walk". As you can derive from the above paragraph, the film takes place in during the WWII Nazi occupation of France. The story already starts out hilariously, when the pilot of a British bomber plane asks his fellow passengers what their location is. They claim the plain is more or less above Calais, but when the clouds clear up they are surprised to see the Eiffel Tower directly beneath them. The plane is shot down by German ground troops and each of the three British soldiers wanders off towards a different part of Paris with their parachutes. The British pilots receive help from two typical yet entirely opposite French citizens, namely the simple but hard- working painter Augustin Bouvet and the snobbish orchestra leader Stanislas Lefort. Both men, along with the help of various other French citizens, take several risks in order to reunite the British team, which of course makes them enemies of the Third Reich as well. The whole group has to flee towards the South of France, but naturally the journey is full of obstacles and dangers. Many, and I do mean MANY, sequences in "La Grande Vadrouille" have become immortal cinematic highlights over the years and it's almost impossible to list them. The mix-up with the room numbers in the hotel, for example, is very famous and still as incredibly funny by today's standards as it must have been back in 1966. Other unforgettable highlights include the rendezvous in the Turkish bath house and the pumpkin counterattack. In fact, every single interaction between the legendary French actors/comedians Bourvil and Louis de Funès qualifies as classic comedy cinema. Both geniuses where at the absolute heights of their careers at this point, but Bourvil sadly passed away far too young a couple of years later, at age 53. Louis de Funès continued to make several more French comedy classics until his death in the early 1980s, including the sequels in the successful "Les Gendarmes de Saint-Tropez" franchise, "Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob" and "La Soupe aux Choux". De Funès truly was, without any exaggeration, one of the funniest people who ever lived. His looks and his energetic facial expressions were his main trademarks. He wasn't very tall and his almost naturally cantankerous apparition, in combination with his distinct voice and habit of talking really fast, made him the ideal hothead-character. "La Grande Vadrouille" is a brilliant film, with a brilliant cast and a brilliant director, as well as brilliant music (courtesy of Georges Auric) and brilliant cinematography by Claude Renoir. It's warmly recommended to all admirers of genuinely funny comedies and fundamental viewing for everyone living in Europe.

Wu Huimin I've liked this movie since I was child,now nearly 30 years has passed, but I still like it very much! I've just bought a original french edition DVD of this movie. I always like french movies, they have some special characteristic that the Hollywood movies don't have! and commemorate the two leading role of this movie,Louis De Funes and Bourvil!The Chinese name means "escape from the tiger's mouth", once I talk about this movie with a french friend, at that time I didn't know the french name of this movie, so I just told him that the movie named "escape from the tiger's mouth", he felt curious and told me that he didn't know this movie!

writers_reign This was the 'old-fashioned' film that finally sunk the New Wave in 1966 and has gone on to become - with more than 17 million paid admissions - the most successful/popular French film ever. It proves, if proof were needed that Truffaut was full of merde when he attacked so viciously just this kind of film and film maker in his infamous essay 'A Certain Tendency ...' and it leaves his own pathetic efforts like the 400 Yawns dead in the water. Actually if you hold it under a strong light there's nothing here that we haven't seen before indeed its roots stretch extend deep under the Atlantic and surface in Hollywood in the Silent Era. It's secret is possibly no more than it came at the right time; in 1966 French moviegoers had had enough of the anti-films being ground out by the Godards and Truffauts and were staying away from the box-office in droves. But give them two superb comedians (Bourvil, Louis de Funes) at the top of their game, a 'professional' script by Daniel Thompson (her first, and what a debut) and equally professional direction by her father (Gerard Oury) and it didn't much matter that the rest of the cast were fifty per cent wood, fifty per cent plastic - to get an idea one has only to think of Terry Thomas, a so-called comedian who was about as funny as an AIDS outbreak in a monastery. William Marshall inherited none of his mother's (Michele Morgan) talent and even less from his half sister, Tonie Marshall but that doesn't really matter because the momentum is kept aloft by Bourvil and de Funes. The plot, for what it's worth, has an English bomber crew baling out over Paris and attempting to reach the Free Zone aided by Bourvil's house painter and de Funes's orchestra conductor. I doubt if any of the gags, whether verbal or physical are really that new but, like the man said, it's the way you tell 'em. Timeless comedy.