L'AILE OU LA CUISSE / THE WING OR THE THIGH? (1976)

Averaging three films a year since the ‘50s, standout French farceur Louis De Funes skipped 1972 only to return with the biggest, most exportable hit of his career in LES ADVENTURES DE RABBI JACOB/’73.*  Then promptly had a heart attack.  Off the screen for three years, he returned about 15 pounds lighter, still agile, still dyspeptic, very slightly tamer if no more refined, still broad & silly.  More importantly, still alarmingly funny enough of the time.  Here, he’s publisher & lead critic of a Michelin-like restaurant guide, a terror in the field & on the page, now prepping to hand over the works to pudgy son Coluche.  (Coluche also takes on some of his physical shtick, ‘slimed’ the way Funes had been in RABBI.)  This inheritance angle backed with two more storylines: Coluche is secretly working as a circus clown (rudely funny) and a food mogul who’s killing French cuisine passing off processed crap in place of real ingredients (only rude).  Comedy specialist Claude Zidi keeps it all moving in a ham-fisted way, even if the bright, flat lighting grows tiresome.  (Cinematographer Pierre Renoir capable of so much more.)  But by & large, and with guffaws mostly front-loaded, it made a successful return for De Funes.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *(Tiny personal note.)  Seen in Paris on release, LES ADVENTURES DE RABBI JACOB drew (with but one exception) the loudest, most consistent laughter of any film I have ever seen in a movie theater, topping THE GODFATHER at the French box-office that year.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/les-adventures-de-rabbi-jacob-1973.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID/LINK:  Look for a short gag they’d never get away with today: De Funes’ and a waiter with Tourette’s Syndrome.  The food goes flying and a bottle of sparkling water is all shook up.  Typically for De Funes, it’s hit-and-run rather than properly developed.  To see what’s possible, W.C. Fields and the deaf & blind customer in IT’S A GIFT/’33.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y189-69cQPs    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-gift-1933.html