''The Troops of St. Tropez'' (french: Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez; literally ''The Policeman from Saint-Tropez'') is a

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

French

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

set in Saint-Tropez, a fashionable resort on the French Riviera. Starring

Louis de Funès Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...

as Ludovic Cruchot of the '' gendarmerie'', the film is the first in the ''Gendarme'' series, and spawned five sequels.

Plot

Ludovic Cruchot (played by

), a highly uptight gendarme in a small French village, has been reassigned to the seaside commune of Saint-Tropez under the orders of Command Sergeant Major Gerber (played by

Michel Galabru Michel Louis Edmond Galabru (27 October 19224 January 2016) was a French actor. Career Galabru appeared in more than 250 films and worked with directors such as Bertrand Blier, Costa-Gavras, Luc Besson (for ''Subway''), and Jean-Luc Godard. ...

), who takes no lip from his outspoken new subordinate. His daughter Nicole quickly adapts to the life in the city and, much to Cruchot's traditional-minded chagrin, begins to mix with the local carefree youths who often blatantly defy her father's official authority. However, they ridicule her at first, so she states her father is a rich American named Ferguson who has arrived to the port with his yacht. He also owns a red

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once- domesticated animals, the ...

. Soon, the gendarmes find themselves confronted with a major problem: a group of persistent nudists. Any attempts to arrest them ''

in flagrante delicto ''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence") or sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing") is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught ...

'' are foiled by a lookout; but after several failures, Cruchot manages to hatch a master plan and succeeds in getting all the nude swimmers arrested. Later, Cruchot discovers that his daughter and her new boyfriend have stolen and crashed Ferguson's Mustang into a ditch, puncturing a tyre in the process. Unbeknownst to any of them, Ferguson and his teammates are a gang of robbers who have stolen a Rembrandt painting, which is still in the trunk. Cruchot manages to get the car out, but realizes that the objects he threw out of the car to fix a puncture, including the painting, are valuable items. The man who pretends to own the painting then kidnaps Cruchot, but Nicole and her friends knock out the group that kidnapped her father, and the painting is returned to its rightful owner.

Cast

: Ludovic Cruchot * Geneviève Grad: Nicole Cruchot, daughter of Ludovic *

: warrant officer Jérôme Gerber *

Jean Lefebvre Jean Marcel Lefebvre (3 October 1919Some sources indicate he was born in 1922. – 9 July 2004) was a French film actor. His erratic studies were interrupted by World War II. Taken prisoner and then requisitioned as a laborer, he escaped to joi ...

: gendarme Lucien Fougasse *

Christian Marin Christian Marin (8 February 1929 – 5 September 2012) was a French film actor. Born in Lyon, he is best known for his role in ''Le gendarme series'' (as "Merlot"), although he did not appear in the last two sequels. In 1967 he appeared in the tel ...

: gendarme Albert Merlot *

Guy Grosso Guy Grosso (19 August 1933–2001) was a French actor and humorist. Guy Grosso was the pseudonym of Guy Marcel Sarrazin. He was probably best known as half of Grosso and Modo (together with Michel Modo). Selected filmography *''La Belle Amér ...

: gendarme Gaston Tricard *

Michel Modo Michel Modo (born Michel Henri Louis Goi; 30 March 1937 - 25 September 2008) was a French actor and humorist. Modo died of cancer on 25 September 2008 in Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne). Career He is best known in France for having formed in ...

: gendarme Jules Berlicot *Daniel Cauchy: one of the youths St-Tropez

Reception

The film was the most popular movie at the French box office in 1964.

References

External links

* 1964 films Italian comedy films Films shot in Saint-Tropez French comedy films 1960s French-language films Films directed by Jean Girault Films set in Saint-Tropez Articles containing video clips 1960s police comedy films Films partially in color 1964 comedy films 1960s French films 1960s Italian films {{1960s-France-film-stub