Bernard Blier with his short, portly stature and balding pate was never going to be a leading man but became one of France's best and best-loved character actors, enjoying a long and busy career that lasted until the year of his death. No one portrayed Everyman as convincingly as he and here he is perfectly cast as Louis, a humble, Left-leaning locksmith who is informed by wily archivist Piétrefond that he is the great-grandson of Louis XV11.
Louis XV1 and Marie Antoinette were both slaughtered in 1793 and at the time Roger Richebé made this film, Royalists still clung to the belief that their son Louis-Charles had escaped from his imprisonment. Since then it has been established that the unfortunate boy died in prison having endured brutal treatment by his guards.
Little wonder then that his descendant is not only feted by the Royalists and the cream of French society but is also seduced by a ravishing Duchesse. He is in for a surprise however when he discovers that the Archivist, for personal gain, has perpetrated a hoax.........
This is an utterly enchanting, delightfully entertaining piece, full of dry humour and beautifully performed by all.
Blier conveys both humility and a constant sense of bewilderment as a working man who suddenly finds himself an object of veneration and Fernand Ledoux as Piétrefond is wonderfully nuanced, combining plausibility with moral ambiguity.
The Royalists, headed by the elegant Duc de Saint-Gemain of Maurice Escande, are depicted as gentle, courteous and civilised folk desperate for a figurehead. As La Duchesse, Nadia Gray is in the full bloom of her beauty.
In the final scene Louis, back to being a locksmith, standing in the Church of Saint-Denis, traditional resting place of the monarchs of France, utters the immortal line: "If only it were true." A marvellous moment.
Richebé is a sorely underrated director and although this film might be lightweight it really stands the test of time.
It is thought by some to be 'Royalist propoganda' but true cinephiles, whatever their political persuasion, cannot fail to appreciate its quality.
