

In this Franco-Italian gangster parody, a shopkeeper on his way to an Italian holiday suffers a crash that totals his car. The culprit can only compensate his ruined trip by driving an American friend's car from Naples to Bordeaux, but as it happens to be filled with such contraband as stolen money, jewelry and drugs, the involuntary and unwitting companions in crime soon attract all but recreational attention from the "milieu".
Acting
Bourvil's everyman innocence vs De Funès's volcanic neuroticism.
Direction
Oury's precision timing turns traffic jams into symphony.
Practical Effects
Real Cadillac destruction—no CGI, just glorious automotive carnage.

Director
Gérard Oury
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
De Funès was so volatile on set that Bourvil nicknamed him 'Pépère la Colère'—Grandpa Anger.
This 1965 smash invented the modern French blockbuster, proving domestic comedies could outgross Hollywood imports.
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