''Skylark'' (French: ''Adémaï aviateur'') is a 1934 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 ...

directed by Jean Tarride and starring

Noël-Noël Noël-Noël (born Lucien Noël, 9 August 1897 – 5 October 1989) was a French actor and screenwriter. Partial filmography * ''La prison en folie'' (1931) - Yves Larsac * '' When Do You Commit Suicide?'' (1931) - Léon Mirol * '' Mistigri ...

, Fernandel and Junie Astor. The character of Adémaï had previously appeared in

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s but this was his first feature-length appearance.Sadoul p.69 He subsequently appeared in the historical comedy '' Adémaï in the Middle Ages'' in 1935.

Synopsis

Adémaï has joined the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

, but during some

leave Leave may refer to: * Permission (disambiguation) ** Permitted absence from work *** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee *** Annual leave, allowance of time away ...

he finds himself unwillingly engaged to a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

's daughter. To try and escape this he has himself transferred to

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

training. However Méchelet, the man he mistakenly believes is his training instructor, in fact knows no more about flying than he does. Fearing to try and land the two keep flying, breaking a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the process.

Cast

as Adémaï * Fernandel as Méchelet * Junie Astor as Marguerite * Sylvia Bataille as Marie-Jeanne *

Paul Azaïs Paul François Robert Azaïs (6 May 1902 – 17 November 1974) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1929 and 1966. Selected filmography * ''The Three Masks'' (1929) - Le fils Vescotelli * ''Le défenseur'' (1 ...

as L'adjudant *

Paul Asselin Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

as Le commandant *

André Nicolle André Nicolle (1 June 1885 – 25 February 1945) was a French film actor.Phillips p.212 Selected filmography * ''The Chocolate Girl'' (1927) * ''Karina the Dancer'' (1928) * ''The Vein'' (1928) * ''Temptation'' (1929) * '' The Unknown Dancer'' ( ...

as Le colonel *

Alex Bernard Alex Bernard (born Albert Alexandre Bernard, March 11, 1882 – August 20, 1968) was a French silent film actor. Biography Bernard was born in March 11, 1882 in Paris. He is best known for acting in silent films such as ''Cabiria'', directed b ...

as Le docteur Tallet *

Jean Rousselière Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

as Lucas *

Roger Legris Roger Legris (3 July 1898 – 22 May 1981) was a French actor. Selected filmography * '' On the Streets'' (1933) * '' The House on the Dune'' (1934) * ''The Devil in the Bottle'' (1935) * ''Counsel for Romance'' (1936) * ''Wells in Flames'' (19 ...

as Un aviateur *

Henri Lévêque Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

as Un aviateur * Madeleine Guitty as Madame Morlot * Teddy Michaud as Un aviateur * Marcel Barencey as Morlot

References

Bibliography

* Crisp, Colin. ''French Cinema—A Critical Filmography: Volume 1, 1929-1939''. Indiana University Press, 2015. * Merigeau, Pascal. ''Jean Renoir: A Biography''. Hachette, 2017 . * Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009. * Sadoul, Georges. ''French Film''. Arno Press, 1972.

External links

* 1934 films 1934 comedy films French comedy films 1930s French-language films Films directed by Jean Tarride French black-and-white films 1930s French films {{1930s-France-film-stub