At the end of the 1950s, four humor specialists simultaneously experienced recognition. Fernandel with “The Cow and the Prisoner”, Bourvil with “The Hunchback”, Jacques Tati with “My Uncle” and Louis de Funès with “Oscar” at the theater. On the big screen or on stage, each of these artists has a unique style of humor. They are the kings of French comedy. But how did they manage to become true box office champions? How did they experience their immense popularity? How do they still influence the comedy genre? And above all, are- are they funny in life? Where is the line between their character in the cinema and their real personality?
A gangster (Daniel Duval) incurs the wrath of the patriarch of a well-established crime family.
Marie is nineteen and bored in her little suburban life with no future. In a café, she meets the charismatic and beautiful Gerard. Blinded by adoration, Mary decides to leave her parents and her clerk job to live with the man she considers as the love of her life. But Gerard is a pimp, who soon forces her into prostitution. From within homes to out on the streets, the young woman gradually discovers a world of decay and violence.
Victor is a screenwriter whose last work about the Marechal Pétain is refused by his producer. To add insult to injury, he tells Victor he is paunchy. The unfortunate man becomes obsessed by his weight. He goes out of his way to lose pounds, abetted by his wife, Corinne, who puts him on a reducing diet. He must also go to a health center where he takes exercise. Nothing really works. And one day, in a brewery, he cannot withstand his diet anymore and he has a gastronomic meal. Desperate, he tries his luck at a weight watchers reunion.
Gabriel Pelletier, sales manager for a major industrial firm, would be the happiest of men if he didn't have a family of rare originality. The day Gabriel Pelletier is asked by the firm's management to welcome and accommodate an important American industrialist who has come to Paris to handle a major contract, he realizes the difficulties that lie ahead. How will Mr. Strumberger, who has the reputation of a fierce puritan, react to the behavior of the various members of the family?
The Martin family is shopping in a department store. Tiennot is responsible for looking after his little brother, Bébert, but he prefers to chase girls. On the train home, Tiennot leaves Bébert alone. On arrival, Bébert has disappeared. The Martin family sets out to find him.
André Loriot works for Dr Clairac in a laboratory producing euphoric pills. He searches in vain for an apartment where he can settle down and start a family with the woman who loves him, Juliette. To motivate himself and cope with the setbacks he encounters, he decides to swallow an excessive dose of euphoriants.
Le capitan is a 1960 French-Italian swashbuckler film directed by André Hunebelle and starring Jean Marais, Bourvil, Elsa Martinelli and Lise Delamare. It is based on a novel by Michel Zévaco.
Tsar Alexandre II meets a young student, Katia. He understands that he loves her and try to send her away but they end up seeing each other again and becomes his mistress. With the help of Katia, Alexandre prepares a liberal constitution, but these reforms make him hostile to the more privileged subjects without satirising the revolutionaries against the regime.
Duke Philippe de Nevers is an influential and popular man who is married to a beautiful wife called Aurore. His rival Philippe de Gonzague hates him enough to organise an attempt on him. The Duke is accompagnied by Henri de Lagardère when de Gonzague's henchmen altogether attack him. Lagardère cannot save his friend because the both of them are hopelessly outnumbered. He has to escape in order to save the Duke's daughter and swears revenge. Together with his old buddy Passepoil he raises the little girl in Spain. At the same time he returns frequently to France where he detects confronts his friend's murderers and puts them to the sword one by one until only their former leader is left. Finally he discovers that Philippe de Gonzague is the man for whom he is looking.