Fantasma de Improviso

I saw this film once in the mid fifties when I was quite young and it had a lasting influence on me. Although I have not seen it since that time I think of it often & would love to see it again. What I can remember of the plot, it is a modern fantasy adventure romance. Maurice is a young man who can walk through walls and has an effervescent nature, very endearing and warm. During his adventures he meets a girl who entrances him and the love story is woven in and around zany chases. The punch line is very poignant and carries a serious moral wallop. Its funny how the story of an old movie can linger, speak across many years and effect the lives of people long after the last show. I believe there was a bit of popularity for this film, really something very new in the cinemas of the day, a moral sci fi of mysterious origin. The hearing of this moral imparts insight into the reality of the day. The understanding allows for success of the organism and is considered the highest form of comedy. Not really a farce but farcical/ also pertinent was the failure of the sequel to be sympathetic to the plight of the fallen hero.

Jean Boyer was not an ambitious director,but he produced funny little comedies ;his best was certainly "Circonstances Atténuantes" starring Michel Simon and Arletty."Bolero" ,"Senechal le Magnifique " and "Le Rosier de Madame Husson" are certainly pleasant enough.

"Garou Garou Le Passe Muraille" based on a novel by Marcel Aymé ,with fine lines written by Audiard ,can be considered a successful movie too.Things begin to become a bit repetitive in the last third though,which was already the problem with "Bolero" in 1942 and even with "Circonstances Atténuantes" (1939).Reviewers often write that Boyer botched the job too frequently whereas he could have been a past master in the art of comedy.

Sound effects may seem rudimentary compared to today's standards but Bourvil really walks through walls!The best scenes,in my opinion,are to be found in the first half: the apartment the hero shares with an athletic grumpy brother-in-law and a sister who's got not his supernatural gift though she tries her best to..;the office where the hero works with his section head ;the meeting with the sneak thief (Joan Greenwood) who operates in hotels;the hilarious moment when Bourvil reads the lines of her hands .

It's impossible not to like Bourvil.I had the opportunity to see him on stage in an operetta in Paris and I have never forgotten this show.

I had the good fortune recently, to acquire an English language VHS copy of this rare 1951 movie; marketed then in the U.K. as; 'Mr. Peek-a-Boo'. My memory did not deceive me. It is still as entertaining today as it was when I first saw it in the cinema during the early 1950's. The originality of the movie holds well and seems to retain much of certain present day lost moralities. I give this very watchable film all the marks. The special effects are certainly not lost by todays cinematic standards. It's a great pity that movies like this seem to remain too long on the shelf. Actress Joan Greenwood and French comedy actor Bourvil, make you believe that a man can actually walk through walls. The superb supporting cast completes the illusion. Look out for it if you can.l

A baby story in which we see the sympathetic Bourvil, Jean-Pierre Melville's excellent actor in "Le Cercle Rouge" and Jean-Pierre Mocky's "Heaven Sent" Un drôle de paroissien (original title), as he passes through some walls. Nothing else.

I saw the Bourvil version in English someplace when I was young & have never seen it since. I wonder if its available anywhere on Earth. It was funny and something about it made me remember it to this day. It was not subtitled, because I doubt as a kid I would have bothered watching it. The star "Bourvil" a French guy I have never seen since was a blundering goof-ball, who just stumbled into falling thru walls, into peoples lives & at the end I believe he lost his power. I think there was some kind of romantic involvement as well in the story, but I cant remember any details.I also think it was in the 1950s, as I had to be preteen.If anyone knows where that can be acquired, I'd love to know.