Review by Gary Tooze

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• Trailer (3:39 in 1080P)

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Description: In this action-packed slapstick comedy - a dying mob boss nicknamed "The Mexican" asks his old friend and ex-gangster, Fernand Naudin (Lino Ventura), to come out of retirement to take over the family businesses and protect his soon to be married daughter. The rival families take an exception to this and unleash their henchmen to take care of Naudin, but they get much more than they bargained for. After surviving their first onslaught, he declares war on the other families and their shady operations. The stellar cast includes Bernard Blier and Francis Blanche with great direction by Georges Lautner and writing by Michel Audiard. The writer, director and three leads reappeared the following year in the even more successful Spy vs. Spy comedy, The Great Spy Chase (Les Barbouzes).

 

 

Fernand Naudin is an ex-gangster, who now deals in agricultural machinery and lives in Montauban. His modest, quiet life is disrupted when his childhood friend, who has become the Boss of a gangster organisation, summons him to his death bed. He has to take care of his friend's "business" and of his daughter, Patricia, who only thinks about having fun and has never been kept in a college for more than six months. As if it wasn't enough, by taking the Boss's (his friend's) golden seat, Fernand angers most of the other gangsters who hoped to become the new Boss and during the movie, he escapes many murder attempts by people inside the organisation.

One of the most famous scenes is set in a kitchen where the gangsters try to make nonchalant conversation while drinking a vile and strong liquor. Screenwriter Michel Audiard considered it useless and it might never have existed, but the director included the scene in homage to the film noir Key Largo.

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No supplements - aside from a lengthy original trailer.

BOTTOM LINE:
I was in the right mood and enjoyed this even more than I thought. I could easily see why it was so popular - great characters! The bare-bones Blu-ray did a decent job of exporting the noir-leaning film in 1080P. I think it deserves some in-depth supplements but am happy to have just seen it.