The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
| Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire | |
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| Directed by | Yves Robert |
| Produced by | Alain Poiré Yves Robert |
| Written by | Francis Veber |
| Starring | Pierre Richard Bernard Blier Jean Rochefort |
| Music by | Vladimir Cosma |
| Cinematography | René Mathelin |
| Editing by | Ghislaine Desjonqueres |
| Distributed by | Gaumont |
| Release date(s) | 6 December 1972 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (French: Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire) is a 1972 French comedy film directed by Yves Robert, written by Francis Veber, starring Pierre Richard, Jean Rochefort and Bernard Blier. The film's sequel, Le Retour du Grand Blond, was released in 1974.
The film was remade in English as The Man with One Red Shoe.
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[edit] Plot
The chief of the French secret service, Louis Toulouse, in a plot to discredit his second in command, Bernard Milan (who is himself plotting to discredit Toulouse so that he can supplant him), sends his assistant, Perrache, to choose at random someone from the crowd of travelers arriving at the Orly airport, having made Milan believe that Perrache has gone to meet a master spy who will expose Milan's treachery.
Perrache happens to select François Perrin, an unsuspecting violinist, who is noticeable because as the result of a practical joke he has arrived wearing a black shoe on one foot and a reddish-brown one on the other. Milan takes the bait and immediately begins a series of attempts to find out what Perrin knows—blind to the fact that Perrin knows nothing at all about espionage, although he is an expert on music. Milan's machinations involve Perrin in a series of increasingly peculiar adventures, and although he is largely oblivious to the mayhem Milan causes to occur around him, he can't help noticing the beautiful femme fatale, Christine. In a startling scene, she greets him at her door in a demure high-necked black-velvet dress, then turns around and shows that the dress is backless, displaying discreet buttock cleavage. (A similar dress is seen once again—at a symphony concert—in the sequel film, Le Retour du Grand Blond.) A slapstick love scene ensues, followed by more mayhem and treachery, leading to the death of several secret-service thugs and the downfall of Milan. Toulouse watches the chaos serenely.
The film ends, as it had begun, at Orly. Perrin is pushing a huge Louis Vuitton steamer trunk in an airport luggage cart, talking softly to it. (Apparently Christine is inside.) Their destination is Rio.
[edit] Awards
The film won the Silver Bear award at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival in 1973.[1] It was nominated as Best Foreign Film at the National Board of Review (1973).[2]
[edit] Cast
- Pierre Richard — François Perrin
- Bernard Blier — Bernard Milan
- Jean Rochefort — Colonel Louis Toulouse
- Mireille Darc — Christine
- Tania Balachova — The mother of Louis Toulouse
- Jean Carmet — Maurice Lefebvre
- Colette Castel — Paulette Lefebvre
- Paul Person — Perrache
- Jean Obé — Botrel
- Robert Castel — Georghiu
- Jean Saudray — Poucet
- Roger Caccia — Mr. Boudart
- Arlette Balkis — Mrs. Boudart
- Robert Dalban — The False Deliveryman
[edit] References
- This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.
[edit] External links
- The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe at the Internet Movie Database
- The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe at AllRovi
- Film photogallery
