Suivez-moi jeune homme (1958)
Directed by Guy Lefranc

Film Review

Of the many mainstream comedies that Guy Lefranc directed in the course of his twenty-year long career, the ones that stand up best today are those that were clearly modelled on popular American rom-coms of the previous decade.  Elle et moi (1952) was arguably Lefranc's most successful attempt at emulating the classic Hollywood rom-com, but Suivez-moi jeune homme comes a close second, an enjoyable, fast moving farce that offers more than a fleeting nod to Preston Sturges and Ernst Lubitsch.  Daniel Gélin and Dany Robin are perfectly suited to play the 'will they/won't they' romantic leads, in what could easily be mistaken for an updated Gallic version of the Frank Capra classic, It Happened One Night (1934), complete with hitchhiking scene.

Comedy legends and borderline lunatics Michel Galabru and Noël Roquevert are on hand to help crank up the humour quotient, the former hilarious as a Greek tycoon obsessed with netting his ideal woman, and there's an unexpected delight when Claude Piéplu shows up (all to briefly) at the start of his screen career.  Plotwise, Suivez-moi jeune is unlikely to win many awards for originality, but the gags are bountiful and there's plenty to keep us amused as Gélin and Robin fight it out on the sunny Riviera.  The best scene: Gélin, made up as a septuagenarian, mowing passengers down on a crowded railway platform before leaping onto a moving train à la Belmondo.  Well, it's one way to earn the respect of the younger generation...

Film Synopsis

Aristide Oranos, a wealthy ship owner, is in love with Françoise, a shop assistant in a jeweller's shop.  When the young woman rejects him several times, Aristide becomes convinced that she already has a man in her life and hires a private detective, Michel Corbier, to spy on her.  Unfortunately, Michel also falls in love with Françoise...