Blague dans le coin (1963)

Maurice Labro is an odd-job man of the French cinema:his career is unambitious ;he should not be mistaken for Philippe Labro,a younger director from the seventies.

Like Julien Duvivier before him ("L'Homme A L'Imperméable"1957 ),he tries to put Fernandel in a comedy -cum-film noir screenplay (based on an American novel)that just does not suit him;one also feels a Billy Wilder influence (particularly "some like it hot")

A stand -up comic,down on his luck,winds up in Las Perlas ,a town where gambling is king and where there are ten slot machines for one inhabitant (or tourist);his likely stories are not appreciated by the audience and he is booed off the stage on the first night;undaunted,he carries on,basing then his sketches on gaming clubs ready to bleed you dry (the story of the two newly weds is a rather good moment in a poor script).

The cast is rather good and ,besides the star,features seasoned actors such as François Maistre,Jacques Monod,Marc Michel ,the hero of Demy's "Lola" and sexy Perrette Pradier;there's just one problem:how could the audience believe they are Americans? Also handicapped by frequent use of Dirk Sanders' dancers, which slows down an action which is not that much very exciting in the first place .