Meet the family
20 April 2013
"Papa Maman La Bonne Et Moi " was a big success:it depicted the story of a big boy who stayed at home with his folks but finally married in the end .

Old Ukrainian saying:"when it works ,do it again and sell it ".

The short sequence which sums up the sequel in admirably succinct style is the grandpa showing his grandchildren the old little jobs of the streets he feels are fast becoming a thing of the past.Dad pacing up and down the waiting room while his spouse is giving birth to her twins (twice) was De Rigueur then.

Some works have stood the test of time quite well;this one is dated ,hence his pristine charm.It depicts a situation that the sixties ,when the consumer society grew exponentially , dramatically changed.

This family is not the average French fifties family:grandpa is a biology teacher,grandma a failed actress and an educated translator,sonny is a lawyer (there were not that many lawyers in those days,in spite of what we are told)and his wife would like to complete her B.A. in English :hardly 10% of the students got their high school diploma in the late fifties! So you can wonder why they cram (8 persons including 2 babies) into a small apartment they do not even own .

Your disbelief has to be suspended indeed ;if you can,Le Chanois the highbrows of the new wavelet hated is a good craftsman and,assisted by talented screenwriters such as novelists Marcel Aymé and Pierre Very ,can come up with some good scenes and some witty lines ;Robert Lamoureux's voice over is heard during the whole screening.

Louis De Funès comes last in the cast ,but his name is underlined;since he was not that famous at the time,on can wonder whether this line was added after "Le Corniaud " and all his hits happened in the following decade .

To fully appreciate it ,you should see "Papa Maman La Bonne Et Moi" (dad,mom,the maid and I) ;a funny scene shows the maid has turned into ..the young wife.
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