The French comedy “La belle américaine” (1961) directed by Robert Dhéry and Pierre Tchernia, was written by Alfred Adam, Robert Dhéry, and Pierre Tchernia. The main cast includes Robert Dhéry as Marcel Perrignon, Colette Brosset as Paulette Perrignon, Christian Marin as Pierrot, Alfred Adam as Alfred, Louis de Funès as the Viralot brothers, and Bernard Lavalette as the Minister of Commerce.
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| “La belle américaine” Poster |
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| Colette Brosset as Paulette Perrignon and Robert Dhéry as Marcel Perrignon |
Synopsis
Marcel Perrignon (Robert Dhéry) is a factory worker who does tubing in a factory in the Paris suburbs. He lives with his wife, Paulette (Colette Brosset), on a dead-end street in La Plaine Saint-Denis, where his friends run various businesses. Pierrot (Christian Marin), his brother-in-law, sells ice cream and candies from his cart, which Paulette makes. Marcel plans to buy an old motorcycle from his friend Alfred (Alfred Adam), but the bike is in poor condition. Paulette then comes across an ad for an American car being sold for the ridiculously low price of 500 new francs. Marcel goes to Neuilly to meet Madame Lucanzas (Annie Ducaux), who, seeking revenge for her late husband's infidelity, has decided to sell the American car he had promised to Simone (Éliane d'Almeida), his (very close) secretary, at an unbelievably low price…
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| Robert Dhéry as Marcel Perrignon |
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| Colette Brosset as Paulette Perrignon |
Main cast
- Robert Dhéry as Marcel Perrignon
- Colette Brosset as Paulette Perrignon
- Christian Marin as Pierrot Paulette's brother and ice cream salesman
- Alfred Adam as Alfred the motorbike friend
- Louis de Funès as Les frères Viralot, both the personnel manager and the commissaire (chief inspector)
- Bernard Lavalette as Le ministre du commerce (trade minister)
- Jacques Legras as Riri, cafe owner
- Robert Rollis as the hairdresser
- Annie Ducaux as Mrs Lucanzas
- Éliane d'Almeida as Simone
- Michel Serrault as Chauveau aka Veau-froid, the tramp
- Claude Piéplu as the attorney
- Jacques Fabbri as Le gros
- Jean Lefebvre as Chougnasse, Le chef comptable (chief accountant)
- Jean Richard as the spectacled locksmith
- Pierre Dac as the colonel
- Max Favalelli as the ambassador
- Jacques Balutin as Balutin
- Robert Burnier as Houche
- Bernard Dhéran as M. Jean
- Jean Carmet as the car thief
- Roger Pierre as snob sports car driver
- Jean-Marc Thibaut as the effete man
- Christian Duvaleix as the priest in the night
- Fernand Raynaud as himself in his comedy sketch as La Bougie (on a TV show)
- Pierre Tchernia as himself as TV presenter
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| Robert Dhéry as Marcel Perrignon and Louis de Funès as commissaire Viralot |
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| Jean Richard as locksmith, Christian Marin as Pierrot and Colette Brosset as Paulette Perrignon |
The car
"La Belle Américaine" referred to as a Cadillac in the film, is actually a 1959 Oldsmobile 98 Convertible, modified by the Pichon-Parat coachbuilders from Sens. On the original model, there are four headlights with turn signals placed between each pair. For the film's needs, Lucas fog lights were installed in place of the turn signals, giving the car a front with six headlights. The grille was modified: a sheet metal piece in the same color as the body, containing a much smaller grille, was mounted to replace the original grille. The rear lights lost their chrome trim. All logos and inscriptions originally present were removed to prevent identification of the model. The bodywork was done by the Pichon-Parat coachbuilders, based on designs by Jacques Dupas.
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| 1959 Oldsmobile 98 Convertible |
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| The film car with Éliane d'Almeida as Simone and Robert Dhéry as Marcel Perrignon |
Trailer
