Most of us have heard of "spaghetti westerns" such as "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" -- shot in Spain directed by Italians with mostly Italian casts along with a few Americans like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. But what do you call a western made in France and in French?

The question arises from the long-ago (1971) farce starring Yves Montand, "Delusions of Grandeur." based on Victor Hugo's 'Ruy Blas'. written and directed by Gérard Oury with the aid of his daughter, Daniele Thompson. The movie begins with a stagecoach holdup like innumerable Hollywood westerns. The rich passenger in the coach, however, is Don Salluste de Bazan (Louis de Funès), a venal governor squeezing taxes out of the impoverished inhabitants of a very parched (SW US-looking) region who is a pretty stupid 16th-century Spanish courtier, easily manipulated by Blaise (Yves Montand--I didn't know he was such a master of the "Who me?" look, though I do remember him as a very devious peasant in "Jean de Florette" and "Manon of the Spring.")

Alberto de Mendoza gets to mug and send Don Salluste in paroxyms of worry as the King of Spain. Karin Schubert has fewer chances to entertain as the Queen (and not the most faithful of wives, smitten by Blaise...)

There is a farce centering on a bomb that would not be out of place in a Mel Brooks comedy. Come to think of it, there's a lot in the movie that would not be out of place in a Mel Brooks comedy! especially the hapless Don Salluste de Bazan, and some bed-switching orchestrated by Blaise.

Michel Polnareff provided a very lively musical score that is something of a parody of the spaghetti-western scores of the great Ennio Morricone.

The slapstick and Montand's drollery are funny. French audiences apparently find the movie hilarious. I'd say that there must be something cultural that is opaque to me and to American audiences more generally, except that the French are also notorious for considering Jerry Lewis a comic genius. Also, I have no previous experience of Louis de Funès, who is or was well-known to French viewers -- that is, came with a lot of comic associations for them.

I can't judge the adequacy of the subtitles in English, but can report that they are legible and make sense.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD