The Umbrella Coup

Gérard Oury gave us so many successful films over two decades that it's a bit unusual to see a real flop. I don't know what the proceeds were for this one, but it has a lack of rhythm and loose plotting that suggest failure at the box office.

To begin with, the casting: when you can unite Bourvil and de Funès (La grande vadrouille), or Montand and de Funès (La folie des grandeurs), then Pierre Richard and Gérard Jugnot are going to seem small beer in comparison. And the story, so lacking in real tension and pace: an actor has a meeting with a producer, but goes in the wrong door, ends up working for the mob... Haven't we seen this kind of story before?

It's enough to say that Gordon Mitchell has a splendid granite face as the hit-man, and Christine Murillo is very sexy (what happened to her?).