Le cavalier Lafleur: Fernandel being Fernandel

Is this thing worth your time?

If you like old-school French slapstick, sure. It’s light, it’s breezy, and Fernandel is doing that face-stretching thing he does that makes you giggle despite yourself. If you’re looking for high-stakes drama or something that makes a lick of logical sense, skip it. You will probably hate it if you get annoyed by characters who constantly trip over their own feet.

Fernandel is everywhere in this. The man has a face that was practically built for cinema, and he knows it. He plays the titular cavalier with such chaotic energy that the rest of the cast sometimes looks like they’re just waiting for him to stop talking so they can say their lines. It’s funny, but sometimes it feels like the movie is just a vehicle for his nervous ticks.

There’s a scene about midway through where the pacing just... stops. It’s like the editor took a nap or something. Everyone is standing in a room, and for about thirty seconds, nobody says a word. It’s weirdly hypnotic. I kept waiting for someone to trip or for a door to slam, but nope. Just silence. Maybe it was a reel change? Who knows. It felt like watching a play where the actors forgot their cues.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Le cavalier Lafleur (1934) through its definitive frames.

The humor here feels a lot like Obey the Law, in that it’s very tied to the era’s specific style of stage-to-screen adaptation. Everything feels a bit cramped, like they were filming in a box. But when Fernandel starts doing his bit, the box disappears. The man could make a grocery list sound like a riot.

Odd observations:

• The military uniforms look like they were tailored for people twice the size of the actors.
• One of the side characters, Pierre Larquey, steals every single scene he’s in just by looking confused.
• The background music kicks in at the most random times. Sometimes it’s too loud, then it just vanishes.
• I think I spotted a boom mic shadow in the corner of a room, but I’m too lazy to go back and check.

It doesn't reach the heights of something like Road to Rio, but it isn't trying to, either. It’s just a simple, silly little flick. The ending comes out of nowhere, too. It’s like they hit a deadline and just decided, 'Yeah, that’s enough of that.' You don’t get closure, you just get the credits. Honestly, that’s kind of refreshing. 🤡

It’s an imperfect movie, but it has a soul. You can tell they were having fun, even if the budget was clearly held together by tape and optimism.