''Yoyo'', also referred to as ''Yo Yo'', is a 1965 French

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by and starring

Pierre Étaix Pierre Étaix (; 23 November 1928 – 14 October 2016) was a French clown, comedian and filmmaker. Étaix made a series of short- and feature-length films, many of them co-written by influential screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. He won an Aca ...

. The story follows the son of a millionaire from the 1920s to the 1960s. After losing his fortune in the stock-exchange crash, he teams up with an equestrienne and becomes a circus clown. The film was entered into the

1965 Cannes Film Festival The 18th Cannes Film Festival took place from 3 to 16 May 1965. Olivia de Havilland served as jury president for the main competition, becoming the first woman to ever do so. The ''Grand Prix du Festival International du Film'', then the fetiv ...

Plot

The father of Yoyo is a 1920s millionaire who, although having everything he fancies and living in a cavernous old chateau, is not happy, and still misses a beautiful circus performer whom he once loved. When the stock market crashes, rendering him both poor and free, he joins the circus with which his former love and their young son are working, and they renew their relationship. Their son Yoyo has begun in the circus as a clown, but later becomes a successful actor and uses his new wealth to buy back his father's chateau.

Cast

as Yoyo / the millionaire *

Claudine Auger Claudine Auger (born Claudine Oger; 26 April 1941 – 18 December 2019) was a French actress best known for her role as a Bond girl, Dominique "Domino" Derval, in the James Bond film '' Thunderball'' (1965). She earned the title of Miss France ...

as Isolina * Philippe Dionnet as Yoyo as a child * Luce Klein as the equestrienne * Siam as a clown * Pipo as a clown * Dario as a clown * Mimile as a clown * Martine de Breteuil as Madame de Briac * Roger Trapp as Leroy

Release

The film was released in French cinemas on 19 February 1965. It competed at the

, where it received the OCIC Award. It was released in the United States on 28 February 1967 through Magna Pictures Distribution.

Reception

The film received some harsh reviews in France, which affected Étaix's next film, ''

As Long as You've Got Your Health ''As Long as You've Got Your Health'' () is a 1966 French comedy film directed by and starring Pierre Étaix. Film The anthology film consists of four separate stories: a man reads about vampires all night, people leave their workplaces and try t ...

''.

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and 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 ...

included ''Yo Yo'' on his top-ten list of the best films of 1965. The American comedian

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

saw the film during a visit to France and enjoyed it so much that he asked to meet its creator. A French television team that had been appointed to interview Lewis captured the meeting, where the two comedians, limited by the language barrier, made impressions of each other's comedy routines and improvised clown acts together. Lewis later cast Étaix in his own unreleased film ''

The Day the Clown Cried ''The Day the Clown Cried'' is an unfinished and unreleased 1972 Swedish-French drama film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis about a circus clown imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. It is based on an original screenplay by Joan O'Brien a ...

''.

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewed the film upon the American release:

Mr. Etaix is marvelously talented. He is a master of subtle mimicry, and he plays all sorts of charming little incidents with great sensitivity and wit. ... But that's the trouble with his picture. It's too casual, fragmented and loose. It's as though Mr. Etaix were writing his script as he goes along, tossing in scenes he remembers from somebody else's film, letting himself do something (he also plays several minor roles without taking credit for them) more to display his virtuosity than to develop a story and character.

In 2007, ''

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' described the film as "possibly the best of Etaix's features", and wrote that "Etaix has just enough astringency to keep sentimentality at bay, and his mastery of the sight gag amply justifies Jerry Lewis' enthusiasm for the film, which is singularly beautifully shot by

Jean Boffety Jean Bofferty (7 June 1925 – 25 June 1988) was a French New Wave cinematographer known for his collaborations with directors such as Robert Enrico, Pierre Étaix, and Claude Sautet. In 1979 Bofferty was nominated for a César Award for Bes ...

References

External links

* {{Jean-Claude Carrière 1965 films 1965 comedy films Circus films 1960s French-language films French black-and-white films Films directed by Pierre Étaix Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films with screenplays by Jean-Claude Carrière French World War II films French comedy films French-language comedy films