Vacances explosives (1957)
Directed by Christian Stengel

Film Review

The comédie policière or comedy thriller was one of the most popular genres in French cinema in 1950s and 1960s, an inevitable fusion of classic American film noir and French burlesque.  Vacances explosives is hardly the most memorable entry in this successful line of films but is an entertaining enough little romp, systematically ticking off the noir clichés as it wends its way through a typically madcap plot, which at times resembles that of a Looney Tunes cartoon.  Instead of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck we are treated to an even zanier comedy line-up comprising Arletty, Andrex, Jean Tissier, Raymond Bussières and an astonishingly juvenile Philippe Bouvard, the latter making his screen debut almost exactly twenty years before he assumed the role for which he is best known, as presenter of RTL's flagship radio show Les Grosses têtes.  Despite his obvious penchant for screen comedy, Bouvard appeared in only one other film after this, Claude Zidi's L'Aile ou la Cuisse (1976).
 
The plot is unlikely to win many awards for originality - some hopelessly inept hoodlums attempt to recover a stash of narcotics from a pair of wide-eyed innocents before meeting their match in a wily matriarch - but the enthusiastic performances, particularly those from Arletty and Jean Tissier, more than make up for a lack of surprise element in the storyline.  It helps that the dialogue is above par for a film of this kind, thanks to input from Jacques Vilfrid, the frequent screenwriter collaborator of Jean Girault whose best known work includes several Louis de Funès comedies, such as Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez (1964) and Jo (1971).  Occasionally, the cast look as if they are having more fun than the spectator, making the most of the predictable gags that director Christian Stengel carelessly lobs in their direction.  With its enjoyably offbeat conflation of road movie and gangster thriller, Vacances explosives looks as if it may well have been the main inspiration for Gérard Oury's Le Corniaud (1965).

Film Synopsis

In Paris, Arlette Bernard hosts a grand reception at the bar she has just bought to celebrate the marriage of her daughter Syvie to François Morel, just before they set out on their honeymoon in the south of France.  Monsieur Jo, the former owner of the bar, persuades the newly weds to take with them a painting destined for a friend of his, keeping from them the fact that it contains a hidden quantity of cocaine.  A rival gangster, Monsieur Fred, is determined to snatch the drug consignment before it reaches its destination, and when Arlette discovers that her daughter is in danger she takes to the road, unaware of the trouble that lie ahead...