A charming girl who's her widowed father's pride and joy, has gotten herself engaged to a fine young man. Unfortunately she's got a bit of a temper too. A quarrel with an eccentric upstairs neighbor over his tendency to play the "biniou" at all hours takes an ugly turn. The neighbor falls on the floor, bleeding...
"La polka des menottes" tells a madcap tale about a single unfortunate quarrel creating ripple-effects through ever larger segments of society. Everybody and his uncle gets involved : a taxidermist, a baker, a tramp, a master criminal. Near the end the whole of France has been galvanized into worrying about the fate of a celebrated scientist said to hold the key to the Nation's survival. For the viewer, there's great fun to be had in sitting back and enjoying the artfully designed chain of mishaps, coincidences and misunderstandings. Some of the dialogue is worthy of quotation too.
It's a pity that one of the main characters, upstairs neighbor Charles Magne, never rises above the stock comedy character of the brilliant-but-eccentric scientist.
You'll notice how the story unfolds in a more innocent time, when citizens who committed some crime actually felt bad about this. More, they even walked to the nearest police station, wracked with guilt, in order to make a spontaneous confession. I rather fear that this general mindset has gone the way of the dodo, and not only in France...
A good chance to watch some young comedians who were to enjoy long and illustrious careers, such as Claude Rich (as the fiancé) and Jean Lefebvre (as the second policeman).
"La polka des menottes" tells a madcap tale about a single unfortunate quarrel creating ripple-effects through ever larger segments of society. Everybody and his uncle gets involved : a taxidermist, a baker, a tramp, a master criminal. Near the end the whole of France has been galvanized into worrying about the fate of a celebrated scientist said to hold the key to the Nation's survival. For the viewer, there's great fun to be had in sitting back and enjoying the artfully designed chain of mishaps, coincidences and misunderstandings. Some of the dialogue is worthy of quotation too.
It's a pity that one of the main characters, upstairs neighbor Charles Magne, never rises above the stock comedy character of the brilliant-but-eccentric scientist.
You'll notice how the story unfolds in a more innocent time, when citizens who committed some crime actually felt bad about this. More, they even walked to the nearest police station, wracked with guilt, in order to make a spontaneous confession. I rather fear that this general mindset has gone the way of the dodo, and not only in France...
A good chance to watch some young comedians who were to enjoy long and illustrious careers, such as Claude Rich (as the fiancé) and Jean Lefebvre (as the second policeman).
