A lottery winner pays to be a fake art dealer for love. French farce at its most unhinged.
A shy, penniless employee of the garage owner Grillot, the gentle Louis wins $10 million in the lottery. Flitting along the banks of the Seine, he takes in Raoul Grandvivier, an unknown, untalented painter who has just botched a spectacular suicide intended to draw attention to himself. Raoul takes him back to his studio, where he meets his charming daughter Lucie. In order to see Lucie again, with whom he is in love, Louis offers to sell the paintings. In reality, he's the one paying for them, to make it look like a wealthy art lover.
Acting
Darry Cowl's bumbling everyman energy is pure French comedy gold.
Direction
Carbonnaux keeps 75 minutes tighter than most two-hour films.
Production
1950s Paris location shooting that makes you want to move immediately.
Director
Norbert Carbonnaux
Fernand Gravey
Raoul Grandvivier
Pierre Mondy
Le maître nageur
Jacques Dufilho
Jules Grandvivier
Darry Cowl
Louis Stainval, laveur de voitures, gagnant à la Loterie
Béatrice Altariba
Lucie Grandvivier, la fille de Raoul
Julien Carette
Mr Grillot, le garagiste
Denise Carvenne
La caissière de la brasserie
Gaby Basset
Martine Grandvivier, la femme du poissonnier
Max Montavon
L'expert en billet
Daniel Emilfork
L'expert en tableaux
Albert Michel
Mr Charretier, le concierge
Jacques Marin
Le pêcheur à la ligne
Gaston Orbal
Le client de l'avenue Kleber
Bernard Musson
Le commissaire de police
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title 'Un Drôle de Dimanche' ('A Funny Sunday') was changed for English markets to the baffling 'Hardboiled Egg Time' — nobody knows why, and it's magnificent.
Darry Cowl was France's highest-paid comedian in the 1950s; this was his attempt at leading-man romance, and he reportedly hated every minute of it.
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