''L'Animal'' is a 1977 French

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

directed by

Claude Zidi Claude Zidi (born 25 July 1934) is a French film director and screenwriter noted for his mainstream burlesque comedies. Born in Paris, he started as a cameraman and then a cinematographer, and he made his directorial and screenwriting debut in 1 ...

and starring

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...

and

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...

. It was distributed in the United States by Analysis Film Releasing Corp under the title ''Stuntwoman''.

Plot

Mike Gauché (

) is a professional film stuntman who works with his fiancée Jane Gardner (

). However minutes before their long planned marriage they are called to perform a car stunt for a movie but it goes wrong, as a brake problem causes their car to fall and they end up in a hospital with bruises and broken legs. Exasperated by the behavior of her fiancé, Jane decides to leave. After his recovery Mike is no longer able to find work in the movie business and is forced to simulate mental retardation and to invent a family to receive Social Security benefits. One day his stuntman friend Santos asks him to replace him from time to time at his job which involves dressing up as a gorilla for advertising pasta at a supermarket. Mike's luck begins to improve as he gets offered a high salary to do the stunts of an effeminate movie star Bruno Ferrari (

) whom he proves to be a dead ringer to. Ferrari, while filming an action movie, suffers from vertigo and finds himself unable to perform dangerous sequences. Mike does not hesitate to get rid of his new stunt partner in order to replace her with Jane, who is enamored with the Count of Saint-Prix (

Raymond Gérôme Raymond Gérôme (17 May 1920 — 3 February 2002) was a Belgian-born, French stage and screen actor. Gérôme was born as Raymond Joseph Léon De Backer in Koekelberg. He made his first stage appearance in 1946, in a stage production of '' Jeann ...

). Having heard the news Mike goes to the Count while impersonating a server in order to propose the offer to Jane. When he hears that the Count has asked to marry Jane he manically sabotages the dinner and makes Jane promise to do the film. Desperate to regain Jane, Mike impersonates Ferrari who turns out to be gay, to seduce her. However the young woman is not fooled. Mike must perform a dangerous stunt on the wing of an airplane to an audience of journalists who think they are seeing Ferrari, where his life is saved from the accident by Jane, who is to marry the Count very soon. Meanwhile, the press discovers that Ferrari is not doing his own stunts. While the wedding ceremony takes place at the castle of the Count, Mike arrives disguised as a gorilla, scaring guests with animals from the property, and takes Jane, who refuses to marry Count of Saint-Prix, preferring to live her life with Mike.

Cast

as Mike Gaucher / Bruno Ferrari *

as Jane * Charles Gérard as Hyacinthe *

Julien Guiomar Julien Guiomar (3 May 1928 in Morlaix, Finistère, Brittany – 22 November 2010 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), was a French film actor. The actor had retired to the Dordogne at Monpazier. The person who incarnated Colonel Vincent in ...

as Fechner * Aldo Maccione as Sergio Campanese *

Dany Saval Dany Saval (born Danielle Nadine Suzanne Savalle; 5 January 1942) is a French former actress. Her career flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. Best known in America as one of a trio of airline stewardesses being shuffled around by Tony Curtis ...

as Doris *

as Count of Saint-Prix * Henri Génès : as Camille, café owner * Claude Chabrol as The Director * Mario David as Santos *

Didier Flamand Didier Flamand (born 12 March 1947) is a French actor and theatre director. He has appeared in more than 200 films and television shows since 1973. He starred in Raúl Ruiz's 1978 film '' The Suspended Vocation''. Theater Filmography Actor ...

as The Cousin *

Josiane Balasko Josiane Balasko (born Josiane Balašković; 15 April 1950) is a French actress, writer, and director. She has been nominated seven times for César Awards, and won twice. Career One of Balasko's most recognized roles among English speakers is ...

as Supermarket Girl * Jacques Alric *

Henri Attal Henri Attal (1936 in Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populat ...

as an assistant *

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career ...

as The Female Star (cameo appearance) *

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

as The Male Star (cameo appearance) *

Maurice Auzel Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor * Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

Maurice Bénichou Maurice Bénichou (23 January 1943 in Tlemcen, French Algeria – 14 June 2019) was a French actor. His best known roles include three collaborations with director Michael Haneke ('' Code inconnu'', '' Le Temps du Loup'', and '' Caché''), and ...

* Edouard Bergara *

Paul Bisciglia Paul Antoine Alphonse Bisciglia (30 July 1928 – 18 April 2010) was a French film actor. Career Throughout his acting career, Bisciglia appeared in more than one hundred feature films. He made his debut in the 1950 film ''Trois télégram ...

Richard Bohringer Richard Bohringer (born 16 January 1942) is a French actor. Personal life Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, to a French mother and a German father. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has three other children, Mathieu, Richa ...

* Anne-Marie Coffinet * Raphaële Devins * Isabelle Duby * Martine Ferrière * Jean-Jacques * Jean-Jacques Moreau *

Gilles Kohler Gilles Kohler is a French actor, born November 18, 1948 Former Model, Gilles Kohler started out in 1974 as the blonde angel Jean in Marcel Carné's ''La Merveilleuse visite''. Two years later he plays Jean-Pierre, a lover between two women (Claude ...

* Yves Mourousi *

Xavier Saint-Macary Xavier Saint-Macary (June 7, 1948 – March 13, 1988) was a French actor, brother of Hubert Saint-Macary. Saint-Macary played in ''La Nuit américaine'' (1973) directed by François Truffaut and '' Le Château perdu'' (1973). American audiences ...

* Agathe Vannier

Production

Most of the stunts in the film were done by Belmondo himself. This caused him multiple injuries; a dislocated ankle after the scene on the steps of Sacré-Cœur, dislocation and a penetrating wound after the scene in which he is tumbling down the stairs, a chewed up ear after the fight scene with a tiger. Because the insurance companies refused to insure aerial stunts they had to be filmed last. Everything went off without incident, and the actor was able to realize his childhood dream of personally standing on the wing of a flying airplane, a

Fieseler Fi 156 The Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (, "stork") was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short fie ...

Box Office

The film sold over 3 million tickets in France. It grossed a total of $7,196,268 million at the worldwide box office.

References

External links

*
''Animal''
at Le Film Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:Animal 1977 films French action comedy films 1970s French-language films Films about stunt performers Films about filmmaking Films directed by Claude Zidi Films with screenplays by Michel Audiard Films scored by Vladimir Cosma 1970s action comedy films 1977 comedy films 1970s French films