''Le Magnifique'' (literally ''The Magnificent''; also known as The Man from Acapulco) is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

released in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, 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 ...

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

and

Vittorio Caprioli Vittorio Caprioli (15 August 1921 – 2 October 1989) was an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 109 films between 1946 and 1990, mostly in French productions. Biography Caprioli was born in Naples. Having graduated fr ...

that was directed by

Philippe de Broca Philippe de Broca (; 15 March 1933 – 26 November 2004) was a French movie director. He directed 30 full-length feature films, including the highly successful ''That Man from Rio, That Man from Rio (''L'Homme de Rio'')'', ''Le Magnifique, The M ...

. ''Le Magnifique'' is a slapstick spoof of B-series espionage films and novels and the men who write them.

Synopsis

François Merlin (

) is a

Jean Bruce Jean Bruce (22 March 1921 – 26 March 1963), born Jean Brochet, was a prolific French popular writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Jean Alexandre, Jean Alexandre Brochet, Jean-Martin Rouan, and Joyce Lindsay. He died in a car accident in ...

type writer of pulp espionage novels (he has written 42 so far) and about half of the film plays in his imagination, where he is the world-renowned superspy "''Bob Sinclar''" (The name of the character is never seen written in the film, while some people write his name "Saint-Clair" the way it is pronounced in French sounds like Sinclar; in the English dubbed soundtrack the surname is "St. Cloud".) Christine (

) is a sociology student who lives in François' building and is interested in the novels, but in the writer's imagination she becomes Tatiana, his paramour, while the pompous and rich publisher of his novels, Pierre Charron (

), doubles as the great villain of the spy novels, the Albanian secret services head Karpov, who in a memorable scene of the film threatens to cut off one of Tatiana's breasts. Christine is clearly fascinated with the handsome spy Bob Sinclar, an unrealistic and idealised hero, who is the very opposite of his creator: a clumsy, frustrated divorced man who barely makes enough money to get by. However, when she is befriended by the rich and vain publisher who looks down upon his poor hack writer, she realises her mistake, and after a party where he tries to seduce her, she flees him and falls asleep on the landing outside the writer's flat, where he finds her in the morning, clad apparently only in a T-shirt and embraces her for a happy ending. In the final scene, François throws over the balcony his last manuscript, freeing himself from his character and his imaginary life.

Production

Due to a dispute between Francis Veber and director Philippe de Broca over the importance of the lead female character to the script, Francis Veber refused to be credited as a writer. As a result, the credits don't feature any writer.

UK Release

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, Le Magnifique was titled ''How to Destroy the Reputation of the Greatest Secret Agent'', and was released as the

B-Movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

to the film '' Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze'' in 1975.

Cast

: François Merlin / Bob Saint-Clar *

: Christine / Tatiana *

: Georges Charron / Colonel Karpof * : Mrs. Berger *

Mario David (actor) Mario David (1927–1996) was a French film and television actor.Neupert p.116 A character actor he appeared on screen from the 1950s to the 1990s in supporting roles. Selected filmography * ''Love Is Not a Sin'' (1952) * ''The Tour of the Gran ...

: Policeman *

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 ''Jeanne ...

: General Pontaubert *

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 ...

: The electrician * Hans Meyer : Colonel Collins *

André Weber André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

: The plumber *

Hubert Deschamps Hubert Deschamps (13 September 1923 – 29 December 1998) was a French actor. He was the son of the museum curator Paul Deschamps (1888–1974) and uncle of the French stage director Jérôme Deschamps. Selected filmography * ''The Stroll ...

: Salesman *

Bernard Musson Bernard Musson (1925–2010) was a French actor. Selected filmography * '' It Happened in Paris'' (1952) * '' The Slave'' (1953) * '' On Trial'' (1954) * ''Flesh and the Woman'' (1954) * ''Bonjour sourire'' (1956) * ''Les Truands'' (1956) * '' ...

: Interpreter * : Interpreter * : The Lecturer * : Doctor

References to other films and media

This is the film that is the main inspiration for the three teenage heroes of the novel by

Andrei Makine Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/ Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...

, ''Once Upon the River Love'' (

Au temps du fleuve Amour Au, AU, au or a.u. may refer to: Science and technology Computing * .au, the internet country code for Australia * Au file format, Sun Microsystems' audio format * Audio Units, a system level plug-in architecture from Apple Computer * Adobe Audit ...

, 1994). French DJ

Bob Sinclar Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began DJ ...

took his stage name from the unseen super spy.

Notes

External links

* *
''Le Magnifique''
at Le Film Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnifique, Le 1973 films Films about writers French spy comedy films Italian spy comedy films Films directed by Philippe de Broca 1970s action comedy films 1970s spy comedy films French parody films French action comedy films Films with screenplays by Jean-Paul Rappeneau 1973 comedy films Parody films based on James Bond films Films scored by Claude Bolling Films set in a fictional country 1970s Italian films 1970s French films