Courte tête (1956)
Directed by Norbert Carbonnaux

Film Review

Although somewhat dated, Courte tête is an engaging comedy which still has some entertainment value despite its lethargic pace and implausible comic situations.  Louis de Funès makes a few appearances in the film (in various disguises) and it goes without saying that his contributions are the most memorable.  French film buffs may be interested to know that Jacques Deray and Georges Lautner both worked on this film as assistant directors, not long before they both established themselves as film directors of no mean talent.

Film Synopsis

Amédée Lucas is a naïve young man who scrapes a semi-honest living by selling betting tips to horse racing addicts at the entrance to the Longchamp racecourse in Paris.  A well-dressed gentleman, Olivier Parker, takes pity on the poor man and, seeing he is half-starved, takes him to a restaurant with a business proposition in mind.  Little does Amédée suspect that Parker is an experienced con artist who intends making use of him in his next nefarious little scheme. 

Passing himself off as a big league horse trainer, Parker introduces Amédée to a poultry farmer named Ferdinand Galiveau as Teddy Morton, his most experienced jockey.  By persuading Galiveau, and others, to bet on a horse that has no chance of winning, Parker plans to make himself a small fortune.  All that Amédée has to do is to convince Parker's hapless victims that any bet placed on his horse is guaranteed to come off.  The seemingly fool-proof scheme does not go quite as planned and it is Galiveau who gets the last laugh, winning the jackpot by betting on another horse in secret and leaving the con artist Parker with nothing after falling for his own scam...