''The Amorous Corporal'' (french: La Bigorne, caporal de France) is a 1958 French adventure-comedy film co-written and directed by

Robert Darène Robert Darène (10 January 1914 – 15 January 2016) was a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in twelve films between 1934 and 1959, and directed nine films between 1951 and 1963. Selected filmography * ''Le Chevalier ...

. Loosely based on the novel ''La Bigorne, caporal de France'' by

Pierre Nord Pierre Nord, real name André Léon Brouillard (15 April 1900 – 10 December 1985), was a French writer, spy and resistance member. Early life Brouillard was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, Nord. He participated in the First World War as a re ...

, it is set in eighteenth-century

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It was the first cinematography credit for

Pierre Lhomme Pierre Lhomme (5 April 1930 – 4 July 2019) was a French cinematographer and filmmaker. Filmography *2002 : ''Le Divorce'' by James Ivory *1999 : '' Cotton Mary'' by Ismail Merchant *1998 : '' Voleur de vie'' by Yves Angelo *1997 : '' Les Palm ...

. It aired on cable TV in the US in 1973 as part of a package of non-English language movies called "Movies for Swingers".

Plot

Cast

François Périer François Périer (born François Pillu; 10 November 1919 – 29 June 2002), was a French actor renowned for his expressiveness and diversity of roles. He made over 110 film and TV appearances between 1938 and 1996, with notable excursion into ...

as La Bigorne *

Rossana Podestà Rossana Podestà (born Carla Dora Podestà; 20 June 1934 – 10 December 2013) was an Italian actress who worked mainly in Italy from the 1950s to the 1970s. Biography Podestà was born in Tripoli in the Italian colony of Libya. She spent her f ...

as Bethi * Robert Hirsch as Boisrose *

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 ...

as Potirond *

Jean Carmet Jean Carmet (25 April 1920 – 20 April 1994) was a French actor. Life and career Jean Carmet began working on stage and then in film in the early 1940s becoming a very popular comedic actor in his native country. He is best known internatio ...

as Balluché *

Henri Cogan Henri Cogan (13 September 1914 in Paris – 23 September 2003 in Boulogne-Billancourt) was a French actor and stuntman. Biography Before Henri Cogan became a fight choreographer for European action films he proved his expertise in hand-to-hand comb ...

as Tom Wright

Reception

The film has been widely criticized for its apologetic tones towards colonialism.

References

External links

*
The Amorous Corporal
at BFI
The Amorous Corporal
at Letterbox DVD French adventure comedy films 1950s adventure comedy films Films directed by Robert Darène Films set in Madagascar Films set in the 18th century 1958 comedy films 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub