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.
Augustin Bouvet, house painter
Stanislas Lefort, conductor at the Paris Opera
Squadron Leader Sir Reginald Brook, Royal Air Force
Peter Cunningham
Aircraftman Alan MacIntosh, Royal Air Force
Juliette
Juliette's grandfather, owner of the Guignol theater
Sister Marie-Odile
Mother Superior of the Hospices de Beaune
Madame Germaine
Major Achbach
Keeper of the Vincennes zoo with the Occitan accent
Fisherman in the boat
Lieutenant Sturmer
The talkative bassoonist of the Paris Opera orchestra
Cross-eyed German machine gunner
German soldier on patrol
Méphistophélès from Faust at the Paris Opera
German corporal
German officer of the dining car
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.
Augustin Bouvet, house painter
Stanislas Lefort, conductor at the Paris Opera
Squadron Leader Sir Reginald Brook, Royal Air Force
Peter Cunningham
Aircraftman Alan MacIntosh, Royal Air Force
Juliette
Juliette's grandfather, owner of the Guignol theater
Sister Marie-Odile
Mother Superior of the Hospices de Beaune
Madame Germaine
Major Achbach
Keeper of the Vincennes zoo with the Occitan accent
Fisherman in the boat
Lieutenant Sturmer
The talkative bassoonist of the Paris Opera orchestra
Cross-eyed German machine gunner
German soldier on patrol
Méphistophélès from Faust at the Paris Opera
German corporal
German officer of the dining car
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.