Un drôle de paroissien

When your family principle is that you shouldn't work (because you belong to the aristocracy), what to do when you just sold your last chair to collect money? Georges must find a way to support his family even if it means stealing in churches. An interesting race begins between the two parties (Georges and the church agents) as they have to adapt to the improvements on the other side.

A delightful little comedy, carefully crafted, really not one second wasted seeing it. The comedy begins lighthearted, friendly, slightly bizarre, and remains so until the end. It has some surprises, one in particular.

What I really enjoyed was the lovely acting of Jean Poirot as Raoul, the dentist who at first is reluctant to help Georges out, but becomes his assistant later on all too willingly. He seems to see it as a fun practice besides his real job. A talented actor, who would be used quite regularly by director Jean-Pierre Mocky.

Bourvil is excellent as well, as the gentle thief. It is a great part for him as he was an actor who could play both hilariously funny as well this kind of sophisticated funny. Georges is probably one of the friendliest thieves ever to appear in cinema. It's also refreshing seeing (a lot of) churches being used in cinema.

This was only Mocky's fourth feature film, while he is still productive, and recently finished his 73rd and 74th title! I read that he has 17 children, which might explain the theme of the families in this film (the church agents are one, his own family, and even friends become family in the end). Excellent stuff. I rate this 7/10.