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Comedy «Peak Peak”, based on the play Without Ceremonies by Jacques Wilfried and Jean Giraud, is an ideal example of French comedy. Louis de Funes, who became one of the symbols of the genre, played in the film not his most famous, but nonetheless a striking role. Now, when jokes are increasingly falling below the belt in comedies, the old humor that was half a century ago is sorely lacking. If you miss him too, here are 10 movies similar to 1963’s Peak Peak.
10 Good Evening Mrs Campbell (1968)
Carla “Campbell” (Gina Lollobrigida) is an Italian who, during the American occupation of Italy, slept with three American soldiers for 10 days. By the time she discovers she is pregnant, all three have already left the country, and she, unsure who the father is, convinces each of them (unaware of the existence of the other two) to support their daughter Gia financially.
To protect her reputation, as well as that of her unborn child, Carla pretended to be the widow of a non-existent captain named Eddie Campbell, whose name she borrowed from a can of soup because she did not speak English.
The film begins 20 years after the end of World War II in the village of San Forino, where three former airmen attend the reunion of the 293rd Squadron of the 15th Air Division. The men are accompanied by their wives and children, but everyone wants to see Gia, as everyone is sure of their paternity. Because of this, the filmGood evening Mrs Campbell“is replete with funny situations.
9. Tattooed (1968)
In the artist’s studio, wealthy Parisian art dealer Felicien Mezre sees an old soldier, Legrain, who has a tattoo of Modigliani, one of the greatest artists of the late 19th century, on his back. Mezra manages to find buyers willing to give 500 million francs for this painting, and he tries to persuade Legrand to cut off the drawing from the back. Tom does not really like the idea, but in exchange for repairing his house, he agrees.
From this moment on, the funniest thing begins, since the house turns out to be a dilapidated castle, and Legre is a representative of a noble family. The plot of the movie “Tattooed” very much resembles the story of Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) “The Picture”.
8. Not a minute of peace (2014)
Fast-forward from the 60s to the present: a 2014 comedy about a dentist who finds a rare vinyl record, the dentist needs at least an hour of calm to enjoy the rare album. However, his distraught wife and son do not give a moment’s rest.
7. To the left of the elevator (1988)
The plot of the French comedyTo the left of the elevatoris about a successful but very shy artist, Jan (Pierre Richard), who is in love with a married woman, Florence (Fanny Cottenson). When he finally manages to meet her at his apartment, he runs into big problems: his neighbor Boris, also an artist, leaves his suitcase at home and his wife Eva, dressed only in underwear, runs out onto the playground to call out to him.
At this moment, a draft closes her door and she remains half-naked in the entrance, so she has to ask Jan for help. Unfortunately, this happens just at the moment when Boris and Florence show up, who understand the situation in their own way, especially Eve’s jealous husband.
6. Merry Easter (1984)
Stefan Margel (Marlon Brando) is a wealthy industrialist and womanizer. Making sure his wife Sophie (Marie Laforet) had left during the day, he immediately brought home Julia (Sophie Marceau), a beautiful young woman who is going through a difficult breakup with her boyfriend.
Suddenly, Sophie returns home and, in order to get out, Stefan passes Julia off as his daughter, whom he did not know about and who is pregnant. With this lie, a whole series of lies and problems will begin, with which the main character “happy easter‘ would be comical to handle.
5. Oscar (1967)
Christian Martin, a modest accountant at a large firm owned by Bertrand Barnier, surprises his boss by asking him for a 100% increase in his salary. Martin is about to propose to a girl from a wealthy family and doesn’t want her to need anything with him.
After Barnier refuses to be promoted, Martin tells him that he stole over sixty million francs from him by forging accounting records. When Barnier threatens to report it to the police, Martin recalls that Barnier filed false income statements with the tax office, which is a serious crime. Barnier has no choice but to succumb to blackmail, and he agrees to raise his salary and even make the sly vice president of the company.
Having achieved his goal, Martin reveals that the young woman he is going to marry is Barnier’s daughter. From such impudence, the boss loses his temper, but there is nowhere to go and he agrees to marriage, and his daughter tells him that she is pregnant.
What will be the surprise of the father when he finds out that his subordinate actually marries another, and the daughter is not pregnant and loves some Oscar.
4. Discord (1978)
Guillaume made an important invention: a machine that can purify dirty air by absorbing exhaust gases. Japanese businessmen order 5000 copies from him after dinner with a lot of alcohol, but there is a problem: the production capacity is very small, so he is forced to build machines in his house. His wife Bernadette is far from happy about this, which gives rise to a series of fun events.
Louis de Funes in “Discord”as always good, as well as branded French humor.
3. Gendarme in New York (1965)
«Gendarme in New York“- the second part of a series of films about the adventures of Ludovic Cruchot performed by Louis de Funes. In it, the gendarmes of Saint-Tropez are invited to New York for a law enforcement conference.
They are supposed to be traveling alone with no spouse or children, but Cruchot’s daughter Nicole wants to go to New York with him and he forbids her because disobeying an order could hurt his career. Of course, the girl does not obey and secretly goes on an adventure.
2. Band Man (1970)
Comedy protagonistOrchestra Man» with Louis de Funes – the despotic head of the women’s dance group. He forbids his wards to have connections with men, so that they give themselves completely to work.
One of the girls hides that she has a child with whom the nanny is sitting, so she finds herself at a dead end when there is no one to leave the baby with. Together with other dancers, she decides to give the baby to the boss, passing him off as her nephew’s son. The hero of de Funes is not ready for this, but there is no choice.
1. Recipe for Poverty (1997)
Closes the list of comedy with an admixture of melodrama “Recipe for povertydirected by Tom Gilou. The plot is as follows: Eddie Vuiber (Richard Anconina) is an unemployed man with financial difficulties living in Paris. A wealthy Jewish clothing manufacturer takes him into his corporation out of pity because he mistakenly believes Eddie is also Jewish.
The hero quickly integrates into the Parisian Jewish community and becomes a sales manager, continuing his masquerade and pretending to be an Ashkenazi Jew in order to woo his boss’s daughter (played by Amira Casar).