Squeak-squeak

A French comedy set in Paris. Léonard is a man who has made money on the stock exchange. His house is large, his wife is calm, and he shouts constantly. He has bought an oil share. He then learns it is worthless; there is no oil on the land in question. He wants out. The only way to get rid of it is to load it onto someone. He finds a buyer. Antoine is the son of a rich family and wants something in return: to marry Léonard's daughter. Léonard agrees. There is a problem: the daughter does not want it. From there the film becomes a game of substitution. Someone else takes the daughter's place and the house turns into a factory of misunderstandings. Léonard runs constantly. He goes out one door and in another, and each time has to keep a different lie standing. His wife is never flustered. She watches what is happening and takes her husband entirely unseriously; this is the film's best contrast. There is a hen in the house as well. Its name is Pouic-Pouic and it wanders the garden; the narrative keeps returning to it. What the narrative is interested in is not fraud but tempo: its idea is a lie chasing itself, with every solution requiring a new one. The source is a stage play and the structure shows it: it takes place almost entirely in one house and the entrances and exits are built on stage logic. It is one of the productions that opened Louis de Funès's run as a leading man; he moved to the centre of French comedy after it. The playing is loud and physical. Shouting, gesture, business with the face, and constant movement. Louis de Funès, Jacqueline Maillan, Mireille Darc, Guy Tréjan and Christian Marin are in the cast. Jean Girault directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes 1960s French boulevard comedy and de Funès's playing. Who it is not for: anyone looking for subtlety; the jokes are loud, repetitive, and depend entirely on the actor's energy.