''Clérambard '' is a 1969 French comedy film directed by

Yves Robert Yves Robert (; 19 June 1920 – 10 May 2002) was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Life and career Robert was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. In his teens, he went to Paris to pursue a career in acting, starting w ...

and starring

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student a ...

Dany Carrel Yvonne Suzanne Chazelles du Chaxel, better known as Dany Carrel, (born 20 September 1932) is a French actress. She was born in Tourane, today Đà Nẵng (Vietnam - then French Indochina) to French father ''Marie Yves'' Aimé du Chaxel, a local C ...

and Lise Delamare.BFI.org
/ref> It is based on the by

Marcel Aymé Marcel Aymé (; 29 March 1902 – 14 October 1967) was a French novelist and playwright, who also wrote screenplays and works for children. Biography Marcel André Aymé was born in Joigny, in the Burgundy region of France, the youngest ...

. Set in France shortly before 1914, it tells the story of an impoverished aristocrat who undergoes a religious conversion and, abandoning his ancestral castle, takes his family to live like gypsies.

Plot

In a crumbling medieval castle, the penniless Count of Clérembard tyrannises his wife, his son Octave, and his mother-in-law. Their only income comes from knitting and selling pullovers, and their only meat from what the Count can shoot in the vicinity. The local lawyer, Galuchon, offers to pay off the Count's vast debts if Octave will marry the eldest of his three daughters: the youngest is a beauty, the next pretty, and the eldest a fright. While the Count is ready to grab this solution to his problems, Octave rebels. Though he has never been able to afford her, he is in love with La Langouste, the town's prostitute. Gustalin, a neighbouring farmer fed up with his livestock disappearing to the Count's gun, decides to give him a fright. Dressing as St Francis of Assisi, he suddenly appears before him and gives him a book of the saint's deeds. On reading it, the Count decides to renounce all worldly goods and, after selling the castle to Galuchon, to take to the road with his family in a gypsy caravan, sharing the life of the poor and communing with nature. If Octave really loves La Langouste, why shouldn't he marry her? She is half-convinced about retiring from her trade and gives Octave a free session. When Galuchon arrives to sign the deed for the sale of the castle, he brings his three daughters. Octave, emboldened by his experience with La Langouste, takes the youngest into the empty caravan and afterwards tells Galuchon that he will marry her in return for an annual allowance. The Count is sorry that La Langouste has been jilted and says she can join them in the caravan anyhow. Gustalin reappears to say that he is sorry to have misled the Count, who has now lost his castle, but the Count doesn't mind as he is set on his new life. In the town square, the people see two angels harness his horse to the caravan and they all follow it out into the countryside.

Cast

... Hector, Count of Clérambard * Martine Sarcey ... Louise, Countess of Clérambard * Gérard Lartigau ... Octave, their son * Lise Delamare ... Madame de Léré, mother of Louise *

... La Langouste *

Robert Dalban Robert Dalban (born Gaston Barré; 19 July 1903 – 3 April 1987) was a French actor. His work included stage acting, roles in TV shows and dubbing American stars. Moreover, he was a fixture in French cinema for many decades. Selected filmogra ...

... Gustalin, the neighbouring farmer *

Claude Piéplu Claude Léon Auguste Piéplu (9 May 1923, Paris – 24 May 2006, Paris) was a French theatre, film and television actor. He was known for his hoarse and frayed voice.Lyne Chardonnet ... Brigitte Galuchon * Josiane Lévêque ... Évelyne Galuchon * Françoise Arnaud ... Étiennette Galuchon * Roger Carel ... The parish priest

References

External links

* 1969 films 1960s French-language films French films based on plays Films based on works by Marcel Aymé Films directed by Yves Robert 1969 comedy films French comedy films Films with screenplays by Jean-Loup Dabadie Films scored by Vladimir Cosma 1960s French films French-language comedy films {{1960s-comedy-film-stub