À pied, à cheval et en voiture (1957) User Reviews

cool comedy

[happytrigger-64-390517 · 7/10 · 2 April 2018]

After having seen the hidden treasure "Rue des Cascades" directed by Maurice Delbez in 1964, I wanted to discover his other movies. I already knew "Dans l'eau Qui Fait des Bulles", one of the first main character by Louis de Funès, with a strong story of a dead corpse, does that ring you a bell?

So I jumped on "A pied, à Cheval et en Voiture", impossible to resist the casting : Noël-Noël, Noël Roquevert, Jean Tissier, Denise Grey for the old timers ; Darry Cowl, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jean-Paul Belmondo for the young timers. And another star is the car, so important at that time when it became speedy. But Noël-Noël only buys a modest Renault "4 Chevaux" full of surprises (but not as much as Tati's car in Trafic). Noël Roquevert is so funny because of his hate of cars. And there is a sequence that is a pure document for 50's cars fans, Noël-Noël going to the Grand Palais for the Salon de l'Auto, a must. Other cool sequences : Darry Cowl trying to sell a car to Noël-Noël, a family reunion in a jazz club, ... And lots of view of old Paris. Very entertaining.

Drive my car

[dbdumonteil · 28 April 2016]

Mr Martin's daughter is in love with a true noble's son ;a homely man,he and his wife go out of their way to "impress" the aristocrats in their desirable château where they are invited for a posh hunting .

This is a vehicle for Noel-Noel ,and a rather enjoyable one if you do not ask too much ;this is also an interesting time capsule of the fifties,the era when French people began to buy cars (in the sixties,they would buy in bulk)and to take their driving test (Mrs Martin proved herself a better driver than her hubby).

The screenplay is unpretentious but contains funny scenes :

-to be able to buy a car ,Mr Martin works overtime and sells hearing aids - with an instructions leaflet in Polish-to people who are not deaf or even hard of hearing.

-The big car with gadgets which predates James Bond's one,with seat belts to boot (seat belts were made compulsory in the seventies in France)

-the used cars garage where a shrewd employee ,about to be fired,sells a Quatre-Chevaux ,a car absolutely nobody wants to Mr Martin who thinks it's a good deal.

The cast ,outside Noel-Noel is particularly interesting: Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Pierre Cassel (Vincent's father) are supporting here but later on,they enjoyed ,mainly the former,much more successful careers than Gil Vidal who plays the romantic male lead;it also features another Noel ,Noel Roquevert ,as an enemy of the cars, Darry Cowl and Jean Tissier as car sellers and Denise Grey as Mr Martin's missus.

The movie was such a success that it spawned a sequel "A Pied A Cheval Et En Spoutnik" ,featuring many of its actors,probably inspired by Laika ,the Russian space dog.