After a deadbeat patron at his restaurant gets special care from the cops who think the man has amnesia, the maitre d'hotel decides to pretend he too has amnesia. He is claimed in turn by an aristocrat family and by trapeze artists.
Acting
Fernandel's elastic face sells every absurd escalation.
Writing
Tight farce construction, two households, zero slack.
Costume
Countess silk vs. spangled leotards — Ernest's wardrobe whiplash.
Director
Jean Boyer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Fernandel was France's biggest box office draw in the 1940s; this film helped cement his 'gentle trickster' persona that would define his career.
Shot during the Occupation, the film's light escapism was deliberate — audiences craved class satire that never mentioned the war.
FR
