Louis de Funes

Louis de Funes - The King of Comedy

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Hailed around the world as the European King of Comedy, Louis de Funès’ popularity has endured from his beginnings in the 1950s playing supporting roles, through the height of his career in the ‘60s and ‘70s, until today - almost 20 years after his death! His name evokes fond memories for many people in the world and Francevision is proud to honor this pint-sized superstar with his own corner of our website. We even have his Astrological chart and interpretation up there for you to read!

Generally, when French cinema is mentioned in the US, the dark "New Wave" films of the 1960s come to mind. But parallel to them, shown side by side in the same theaters, were some of the most outrageously funny movies Europeans have ever produced. These comedies were enormously successful and in comparison to the "New Wave" films vast sums of money were spent to create them. Technicolor, Cinemascope, car crashes, lavish location shoots, you name it. The French film industry lavished attention on these comedies and the French public obliged them by attending in droves.

The French sense of humor can be somewhat elusive to Americans. For example, Jerry Lewis is their favorite American comedian. But while we think of the French as cultured, sophisticated people, they harbor a bottomless desire for sight gags, pratfalls, and pie-in-the-face, over-the-top slapstick comedy. Perhaps that is why only one of the actor’s many films was ever released theatrically on this side of the Atlantic.

During this cinematographic heyday Louis de Funès was the undisputed star of French comedy. Who ever would have guessed that a fifty-year-old half-pint of Portuguese extraction would become France's King of Comedy? It certainly wasn't a case of overnight success. De Funès began his career in show business in the late 1930s as a jazz pianist. He only tried his hand at acting when he realized customers laughed every time he made a grimace. He enrolled in acting classes at a well known school and met several useful contacts, Daniel Gelin among them. But after a year de Funès gave up on the classes. He decided that improving his piano skills would be more to the point.

War time was hard on everyone in France but the early 1940’s did bring some joy into Louis de Funès’ life. On the 20th of April, 1943 he married his second (and last) wife, Jeanne Augustine Barthelemy de Maupassant, a descendent of Guy de Maupassant. She was the secretary for the music school where Louis went to improve his playing. She had fallen in love with with “the young man who played jazz like a god.” To court her, Louis took her to the clubs where he worked, playing until dawn on Paris’ left bank. He bought her dinner and champagne. Little did she know that every glass was deducted from his meager pay check.

The newly-weds had little money but that didn’t matter to Jeanne. She believed in her husband and loved him desperately. Their first son, Patrick, was born the 27th of January, 1944. Louis went to work in two more clubs to try to feed his growing family. One day in the metro he ran in to Daniel Gelin. Remembering Louis from acting school, Gelin convinced de Funès to accept a role in a play he was directing for several other students from the school. Very reticent, Louis finally agreed to participate. His performance caught the eye of a well-known theatrical director at the time, Marc-Gilbert Sauvageon, who offered Louis roles in two upcoming plays. From this point on Louis de Funès was bitten by the bug.

Success however was a steep uphill climb. There wasn’t much call for short, balding, skinny leading men. His wife and Daniel Gelin encouraged Louis in the face of a great deal of rejection, because they both believed unswervingly in his enormous talent. In 1945, right after the liberation of Paris, Jeanne gave birth to the couple’s second son, Olivier. Also in 1945 came Louis de Funès’ film debut with a walk on role as a chauffeur in La Tentation de Barbizon, again thanks to Daniel Gelin and Gelin’s wife, Daniele Delorme. For six years after that Louis de Funès pounded the pavement, accepting any role he was offered, searching for the one opportunity that would make him a star.

But it wasn’t the cinema that propelled Louis de Funès into the lime light, it was the theater. In 1951 Robert Dhery and Colette Brosset, inspired by a load of used costumes from Les Folies Bergeres, wrote an off-the-wall theatrical comedy, Ah! les Belles Bacchantes, and offered Louis a major role in it. Success was immediate. The play ran for two years to standing room only crowds. By the time the play closed Louis de Funès’ career was on the fast track. He was now being offered substantial supporting roles opposite stars such as Edwidge Feuillere (Le Ble en Herbe), Fernandel (Le Mouton a 5 Pattes), Bourvil (Le Poisson d’Avril and Les Hussards) and Jeanne Moreau (Les Intrigantes and La Reine Margot).

De Funès' appeal was always his ability to make people laugh. His comedy combined the slapstick shtick of silent films with double takes à la Mel Brooks and a rubbery face that could match the contortions of Joe E. Brown. In all his roles he was the scrappy little guy who managed to survive on his wit and audacity. His timing was perfect. His very presence was comic. But could he act? In 1956, Louis de Funès was finally given a chance to prove himself. In La Traversée de Paris he transformed his character (he had only one scene in the movie which starred Bourvil and Jean Gabin) into a clearly identifiable personality; the opportunistic, self-centered shopkeeper of the Occupation, profiting from the misfortune of others.

The success of this film and de Funès' unforgettable scene led to leading roles in a horse racing comedy, Courte-tête, and a romantic comedy, Comme un Cheveu sur la Soupe. Unfortunately both these films were quite forgettable. It was a third film, shot in the summer of 1957 under the direction of Yves Robert, that brought Louis de Funes critical acclaim. After the release of Ni Vu Ni Connu a major French newspaper, France-Dimanche, dubbed him “the funniest actor in France”. Never had he attracted so much attention. The article went on to say “...that now he’s no longer young, handsome or romantic (he was 43) he has finally succeeded...” A success he owed in large part to his wife ”...who hasn’t divorced him and actually comes to the studio when he shoots. Apparently he can’t shoot without her being there...” For all his accomplishments Louis de Funes remained as timid and insecure about his acting as the day he first started.

He soon had another opportunity to prove his immense talent. When the play Oscar was scheduled to open in Paris, the producers chose de Funès to play the lead. And play it he did, to the hilt. The play was the smash hit of 1961-62 and its success rested squarely on Louis de Funès’ very capable shoulders. Oscar also allowed de Funès to perfect his comic persona. None of this helpless underdog stuff for him. He was much better at ridiculing men in power, the respectable ones that took themselves far too seriously.

But it was only in 1964 that the actor’s film career finally caught up to his theatrical reputation. This was the year he went from being merely successful in France to reaching the heights of international stardom. It began with the release of the first Fantomas (there were three in all) where he played opposite Jean Marais. And continued with Le Gendarme de Saint Tropez, the story of an uptight gendarme trying to cope with the "laissez-faire" attitude of the 1960s. The second film so completely caught the spirit of the times that it propelled de Funès to the same level as Fernandel in the hearts of the French.

The following year de Funès paired up with Bourvil to make Le Corniaud, his biggest box office hit to date. In the film a crafty de Funès mobster suckers the naive Bourvil into driving a white Cadillac laden with gold, diamonds and drugs from Naples to Marseilles. The results were hilarious as de Funès' scheme unravels with every turn the innocent Bourvil makes.

Bourvil and De Funès teamed up a year later for La Grande Vadrouille. For 28 years this comedy would reign as the most successful film ever produced in France. The story begins with spectacular aerial photography of Paris. A plane appears, piloted by an English crew heading home from a bombing mission over German held territory. The plane is shot down, and it's crew parachutes into occupied Paris. One man lands on a building being painted by Bourvil. Another lands on the Paris Opéra, where Louis de Funès is the chef d'orchestre. Very quickly it becomes clear that this is not another war-time drama. In fact it is not a drama at all, but a mad-cap comedy where two hapless civilians (de Funès and Bourvil) become heroes of the Resistance.

De Funès' films were not just successful, they were blockbuster hits. He was enormously popular in France and all across Europe. Again it is amazing to note that these films were never released in the United States. Even La Grande Vadrouille, with Terry Thomas in a major role and quite a bit of English dialog, was deemed too French, too European, for American tastes. It wasn't until 1974 that Louis de Funès came to American audiences in The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob). This broad slapstick comedy about a bigoted businessman who -- for some very complicated reasons -- has to disguise himself as a rabbi was a modest success in the States. Critics here admired it for its Keystone Cops-like frenetic pace. The film begins in Brooklyn where a Hasidic Rabbi is preparing to leave for Europe. Until the action switches to France, the film is entirely in English. Perhaps that was the reason it was shown here.

While de Funès' best and most successful films came during the 1960s, he was active until his death in 1983. A heart attack in 1973 slowed him down (after the shooting of Rabbi Jacob), but his career was never on hold. Even his later films were successful, most notably L'Aile ou la Cuisse (1976), Le Gendarme et les Extra-terrestres (1978) and L’Avare (1980). In 1982, he made his last film, Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes. The old guard was disappearing, woman’s liberation was changing society and the actor’s health was failing. Louis de Funès de Galarza died the 27th of January, 1983 from a massive heart attack. He was 69 years old. Today he is remembered fondly by his public the world over for the laughter he inspired and his ability to find humor in even the most morbid circumstances.

From a list of the top 50 box office draws in France between the years 1956 and 1990 (films selling over 6 million tickets) seven of them star Louis de Funes:

* La Grande Vadrouille 17.2 million

* Le Corniaud 11.7 million

* Le Gendarme de Saint Tropez 7.8 million

* Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob 7.3 million

* Le Gendarme se Marie 6.8 million

* Le Gendarme et les Extraterrestres 6.2 million

* Oscar 6.1 million

Virtually every film the actor made - 127 in all - is available on video in France (SECAM format), and these cassettes have found their way into collections all over Europe. Some are also available on DVD there as well, in zone 2 format (PAL/Europe). Unfortunately there are none currently available on DVD in zone 1 (NTSC/USA). Listed below are the Louis de Funes films we offer for rent on VHS / NTSC. If there is a price next to a film then it is also for sale (in NTSC) and can be purchased online by clicking on the link.

Comic Cameos:

* 1946 Antoine et Antoinette

* 1948 Du Guesclin

* 1949 Mission a Tangier

* 1950 Dr. Knock

* 1950 ...Sans Laisser d’Addresse 2854

* 1950 Pas de Week-end pour Notre Amour 1080

* 1951 La Poison

* 1951 Les Sept Peches Capitaux

* 1952 Les Dents Longues

* 1952 Je l’ai ete Trois Fois

* 1952 Legere et Court Vetue