JohnHowardReid
This is the sort of film the critics love to label "a witless farce", and certainly for the first 30 minutes or so, this description would be fair enough. True, Gerard Oury's direction is rather inventive, but the acting tends to be so heavy-handed that it smothers the jokes (such as they are). An obviously dubbed voice for Jean-Paul Belmondo doesn't help matters. It's fortunate that the other main players – including the delightful Bourvil – speak their own English lines. In fact, the film was actually filmed in two versions. Nevertheless, it's still a bit of a pain until the introduction of super-charming Silvia Monti, at which point it definitely picks up, not only in Miss M's physical attractiveness, but in the level of the farce itself. Even the direction becomes more amusing and super-delightfully extravagant, while the budget becomes suddenly more and more expensive and expansive. In fact, some of the stunts are almost unbelievable, but we see them happening with our own eyes – and on real locations and with hundreds of extras too! Adroit film editing also adds a lot to our entertainment. In fact, it's a pleasure to see a real film director like Gerard Oury spending the producer's money so lavishly and well. True, not everyone will like this sort of crazy, super-expensively produced slapstick, but it becomes so well-timed and brilliantly directed, that – once Miss Monti enters the fray – I loved every second and minute of it! French title: Le Cerveau.
Nicholas Rhodes
Occasionally seen on TV in France, this film has now been issued on a double DVD in France with French subtitles only. Picture quality is superb ( THX Standard ). The film is extremely entertaining, to say the least, quite normal as the directer is the great Gérard Oury and on a par with such films as Le Corniaud or La Grande Vadrouille. I'm sure it's well known across the world, even if people don't know its title, if only because of David Niven's head that slants to one side because his brain's too heavy. There's a mixture of actors here, some French, some foreign and it has that light hearted happy-go-lucky-swinging-sixties look as typified by the Italian Job and other similar films. Knowing the perverse nature of things, now that this commentary has been written, the film will probably turn up on DVD in the coming months !! Let's hope so anyway !
Picobello
One of my all-time favorites. Everything is in it: a very good story where everything matches, the best of comedy actors of that time (French and international), the music which is typical for the swinging sixties (The American Breed). Unfortunately, there was never a second film as far as I know, although the end of the first film would have been a good start for a follow-up film.
jrodrigu
I saw this movie more than ten years ago but I still remember it as one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen. It's very close to the Pink Panther's type of comedy and has an excellent character played by David Niven. It is the type of humor that does not appeal to the grotesque or strictly obvious and very alike what you could call a Peter Sellers type of movie.
AD
