Fernandel in Le coq du régiment: A frantic mess of uniforms

Is it worth your time?

Look, if you are a fan of old French slapstick or just want to see Fernandel being completely ridiculous, you might get a kick out of this. If you need a tight, logical plot or hate characters who spend 80 minutes panicking over nothing, skip it. It is a very specific kind of 1930s chaos that either works for you or just feels like a loud, dusty attic.

The whole premise is classic theater stuff. A womanizing lieutenant, who is obviously way too full of himself, gets into a scrape and decides the best fix is to dress up his orderly. It is the old prince and the pauper trope but with way more yelling and poorly fitted buttons.

The Fernandel Factor

You know when you see an actor who clearly knows the camera is their best friend? That is Fernandel here. He carries this entire thing on his shoulders. Even when the script gets lazy—and it really does, especially in the second half—he is just making these faces that make you forget the scene is dragging.

There is this one moment where he is trying to act like an officer, and he just keeps adjusting his hat. It is a small detail, maybe two seconds long, but it is better than half the dialogue in the film. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in His Vacation, though this one has way more military posturing.

Why it feels a bit weird

The pacing is honestly a disaster. One minute everyone is running through hallways, and the next, it just stops to let a joke land that clearly isn't that funny. It feels like someone took a stage play and just shoved a camera in front of it without cutting anything out.

The crowd scenes? They feel odd. Sometimes it looks like there are fifty people in the room, and then you cut to a wide shot and it is just three guys standing awkwardly near a door. It is like the budget for extras ran out halfway through the day 😅.

• The uniforms look like they were borrowed from a local parade.
• The shouting matches are constant. Seriously, my ears.
• I actually liked the bit with the kitchen staff, even if it had nothing to do with the main plot.

If you like movies that feel a bit like a fever dream from another century, give it a go. Just do not expect anything profound. Sometimes a movie is just a guy in a borrowed coat running around, and that is fine.

It is definitely not as polished as Close Harmony, but it has this weird, frantic heart to it. It’s a mess, but a fun one if you aren't trying to overthink it.