is a

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

French comedy film 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 ...

. It was released on 12 March 1985 in France.

Plot

Paul Martin and François Leroux are brothers-in-law, friends, room-mates and gagmen without fame. But one day, one of the most famous television comics, Gaëtan, who has just laid off two of his gagmen considered too old and not original enough, finds himself in the little theatre where Paul and François produce themselves under the name of "Gagsters". Having come to meet Georges Khorseri, a mate of Paul and François, he assists for the first part at their duet. Seduced by their style, he hires them. For both of them, it is the beginning of the fame, but Gaëtan has a hard time to convince his wife, the shrewish Jacqueline, that he loves his troublemaker job, because she dreams of his as the role of the prestigious director Robert Wellson (a grotesque pastiche between

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

), who will soon shoot his latest masterpiece near

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 populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Cast

Michel Serrault Michel Serrault (24 January 1928 – 29 July 2007) was a French stage and film actor who appeared from 1954 until 2007 in more than 130 films. Life and career His first professional job was in a touring production in Germany of Molière's ''Les ...

... Gaëtan / Robert Wellson *

Gérard Jugnot Gérard Jugnot (; born 4 May 1951) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. Jugnot was one of the founders of the comedy ''troupe'' Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian Cl ...

... Paul Martin *

Thierry Lhermitte Thierry Lhermitte (; born 24 November 1952) is a French actor, director, writer and producer, best known for his comedic roles. He was a founder of the comedy troupe ''Le Splendid'' in the 1970s, along with, among others, Christian Clavier, Gérar ...

... François Leroux *

Macha Méril Macha Méril (; born Princess Maria-Magdalena Vladimirovna Gagarina on 3 September 1940) is a French actress and writer. Biography Méril is descended by her father from the Russian princely house Gagarin and by her mother from a Ukrainian nob ...

... Jacqueline *

Mathilda May Mathilda May (born Karin Haïm; 8 February 1965) is a French film actress. Early life May was born in Paris, France. Her father, playwright Victor Haïm, is of Sephardic Jewish ( Greek-Jewish and Turkish-Jewish) descent. Her mother is the Sw ...

... Alexandra *

Didier Kaminka __NOTOC__ Didier is a French masculine given name and surname common throughout the Romance languages. It comes from the Ancient Roman names Didius and Desiderius. During the 5th century AD, with the Christianisation of ancient pagan names, it ha ...

... René *

Coluche Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci (, ; 28 October 1944 – 19 June 1986), better known under his stage name Coluche (), was a French stage comedian and cinema actor. He adopted ''Coluche'' as a stage name at age 26, when he began his entertainment c ...

... Georges Khorseri *

Maurice Baquet Maurice Louis Baquet (26 May 1911 – 8 July 2005) was a French actor and cellist. He was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône and died in Noisy-le-Grand.Pierre Doris Pierre Doris (1919–2009) was a French actor and humorist. Selected filmography * ''Comme un cheveu sur la soupe'' (1957) - Le chasseur du 'Néant' * ''Love Is at Stake'' (1957) - Le publiciste * ''Le triporteur'' (1957) - Le voyageur à la de ...

... Jean * Carole Jacquinot ... Catherine Martin *

Ticky Holgado Ticky Holgado (24 June 1944, in Toulouse – 22 January 2004, in Paris), pseudonym of Joseph Holgado, was a French actor and a frequent collaborator with Jean-Pierre Jeunet. With ''Delicatessen'' (1991) by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, Tic ...

... the man who files a claim for injuries *

Pierre Tchernia Pierre Tcherniakowski (29 January 1928 – 8 October 2016), better known as Pierre Tchernia, was a French cinema and television producer, screenwriter, presenter, animator and actor. In France he was known as ''"Magic" Tchernia'' and ''Monsieur Ci ...

... the Césars host *

Claude Brasseur Claude Brasseur (15 June 1936 – 22 December 2020) was a French actor. Life and career Claude Brasseur was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine as Claude Pierre Espinasse, the son of actor Pierre Brasseur and actress Odette Joyeux. He was the godson of E ...

... himself at the César (uncredited) *

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...

... himself at the César (uncredited) *

Pierre Richard Pierre Richard (born Pierre-Richard Maurice Charles Léopold Defays; 16 August 1934) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films. Pierre Richard is considered by many, such as ...

... himself at the César (uncredited)

Cultural references and parodies

The program and the character of Gaëtan were freely inspired of the humour programs of the period hosted by

Stéphane Collaro Stéphane is a male French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. Notable people with this given name include: * Stéphane Adam (born 1969), French footballer * Stéphane Agbre Dasse (born 1989), Burkinabé football player * Stéphane Allagno ...

and his team in the mid-1980s with ''The Collaro Show'' and

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

.Vincent Chapeau, ''Claude Zidi, en toute discrétion''. The director Robert Wellson is a parody of

, with close resemblances with

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

and

Frederico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and mos ...

. On the filming stage of Robert Wellson (

), Jacqueline (

), the spouse of Gaëtan (also Michel Serrault), recommends to the make-up artist not to put too much face powder on the face of her husband, arguing that his character "comes out of the sewers, not from La Cage aux Folles".

Production

At the beginning, the scenario was written by

Les Charlots Les Charlots, known as The Crazy Boys in the English-speaking world, was a group of French musicians, singers, comedians and film actors, who were popular in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. The group was active first from 1965 to 1966 as ''" ...

and

but because of a problem between the group and the director, the film was re-written for

and

. The role of Georges, the hysterical comic, was portrayed by

who made one of his last film appearances before his tragical death on motorcycle.

and

appeared in their own role during a sketch of fake awards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rois du gag 1985 films French comedy films 1985 comedy films Films directed by Claude Zidi Films scored by Vladimir Cosma 1980s French films