Contains minor spoilers
This movie is an adaptation of a book the famous Hollywood writer Ben Hetch wrote about Hollywood. This comedy is actually a very funny movie that is now almost forgotten by most French viewers. Although quiet different, this movie can be regarded as being as good as 'Le pere Noel est une ordure' or 'Les bronzes'. Potential French viewers will look at this movie as a gem. Foreign viewers will only consider it as being a good movie because most of the pleasure we get from it comes from the French actors who play in it.
We follow the agent Orlando Higgins (played by an excellent Jean Poiret) and the daily problems he has to deals with, i.e. the actors who hired him. The actors are generally bad and 'has been' (like the character of Michel Galabru) and think as themselves as geniuses which complicates Orlando's task to get them good jobs,even in B-series movies. On the set of the movie where his 'protege' (Pauline Lafont, two years before her tragic death) is acting, strange murders happen. A journalist (Jean-Francois Stevenin, perfect as always) and a writer (Patrick Floersheim, better known for his voice, which French viewers will easily recognize because of his huge dubbing work, than for his acting) try to find the murderer and its motivations. Orlando is suspected, but things are not as easy as they seem to be.
This movie is great by the description of the Hollywood microcosm and by the memorable quotes. It is easy to be impressed by the list of actors who play in it: Michel Blanc (Monsieur Albert), Gerard Depardieu (small cameo appearance), Guy Marchand (playing the dumb inspector), Dominique Lavanant, Sophie Duez, Patrick Braoude (original writer and director of the French 'Nine months'), Claude Chabrol (the famous director!), Benoit Ferreux (already seen as the lead young actor in 'Le souffle au coeur' by Louis Malle), Marcel Gotlieb (famous French cartoonist), Claire Nadeau, Jean-Paul Lilienfeld (the director of 'Genial mes parents divorcent! 1991), Alexandre Mnouchkine (father of the great stage and movie director Ariane Mnouhkine) and last but not least Bernard Blier in the role of J B Cobb perfect in this parody of studio director (probably inspired from some Mayer or some Goldwin). Even the director (Gerard Krawczyk, director of Taxi 2 and 3) might be seen in one scene.
Wonderful.highly recommended.9/10
7 out of 9 found this helpful