Les Morfalous (literally ''The Greedy-Guts'', in French

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...

; English title: ''The Vultures'') is a 1984 French adventure film, starring

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...

and directed by

Henri Verneuil Henri Verneuil (; born Ashot Malakian; 15 October 1920 – 11 January 2002) was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International ...

, featuring the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It is a remake of the 1970 American war film ''

Kelly's Heroes ''Kelly's Heroes'' is a 1970 World War II comedy-drama heist film, directed by Brian G. Hutton, about a motley crew of American GIs who go AWOL in order to rob a French bank, located behind German lines, of its stored Nazi gold bars. The film ...

''.

Plot

French Tunisia The French protectorate of Tunisia (french: Protectorat français de Tunisie; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في تونس '), commonly referred to as simply French Tunisia, was established in 1881, during the French colonial Empire era, ...

, during the

, a convoy of the

is charged to recover gold bars of six billion

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

s from a bank in

El Ksour El Ksour ( ar, القصور) is a town and commune in the Kef Governorate, Tunisia. As of 2004 it had a population of 5,357.

in order to bring them into a safe place for the French government. On 5 April 1943, a contingent of the Foreign Legion enters the seemingly abandoned and partially destroyed town of El Ksour. Unbeknownst to them, a German platoon holds the town and ambushes the FFL convoy - killing most of them. Only five legionnaires survive the attack and take refuge in a hotel in ruins. At night, legionnaire Borzik heads out with

Adjudant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commissioned ...

Mahuzard (

Michel Constantin Michel Constantin (born Constantin Hokhloff, 13 July 1924 – 29 August 2003) was a French film actor. Biography Born to a Russian father and a Polish mother in Billancourt (near Paris), Constantin made his first film appearance in 1956. ...

) to recover arms and ammunition. But Borzik is killed. The remaining légionnaires include Sergent Augagneur(=to winner) (

) and Boissier ( Michel Creton). They find the corpulent and pusillanimous

artilleryman Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, ...

Béral (

Jacques Villeret Jacques Villeret (; 6 February 1951 – 28 January 2005) was a French actor, best known internationally for his role as François Pignon in the comedy ''Le Dîner de Cons''. During his career, he earned many awards including the prestigious ...

) sitting in the toilets, suffering from

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

. Beral and Augagneur then sneak out and use a howitzer on the Germans, killing them all except Captain Karl Brenner. The legionnaires enter the bank. Augagneur and Boissier want to steal the gold for themselves, but Mahuzard wishes to continue the original mission. A fight breaks out between Mahuzard and Augagneur. Augagneur wins and locks Mahuzard in a room, as the manager of the bank arrives, François de La Roche-Fréon. Augagneur then tries to seduce Helene, Francois' wife. They are interrupted by the German lieutenant Karl, who arrives in a tank. Karl became friendly with Helen during the occupation. Helen helps Augagneur capture Karl and suggests they take the gold and sell it to an American launderer, Bob Turner, and split it three ways. Meanwhile, in the bank, Mahuzard convinces Béral release him. He captures Augagneur and Karl upon their return and locks them in a vault with Bossier. Mahuzard has dinner with the bank manager and his wife, who steals the key to the vault. Helen releases Augagneur, Boissier and Karl. They return with the tank surprise Mahuzard and Béral who have just completed the loading of gold in an armored car and preparing to leave. In the meantime, Francois has electrocuted himself to death by urinating on a live wire. Augagneur sends Boissier seize the van. Mahuzard shoots Boissier dead. Karl fires the tank and completely destroys the van containing the gold, killing Mahuzard and Béral instantly. Helene tries to get Augagneur to kill Karl, but he refuses, Karl also reveals Helene made the same offer to him against Augagneur. The two ex-soldiers then loaded the bulk of bullion on the truck, leaving only 300 kilos of gold to Helene while they take 10,000. Augagneur and Karl head south in the tank to sell the gold, but have to stop at a German filling station to refuel. Karl persuades Augagneur to leave the tank so he will not be spotted. The German commander wants the tank. Augagneur escapes into the desert and has to give up the gold. The film concludes with a quote from Blaise Cendrars: "I was the richest man in the world, gold has ruined me. "

Cast

(Sergent Pierre Augagneur) *

(Adjudant Edouard Mahuzard) *

Marie Laforêt Marie Laforêt (born Maïtena Marie Brigitte Doumenach; 5 October 1939 – 2 November 2019) was a French singer and actress, particularly well known for her work during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, she moved to Geneva, and acquired Swiss citize ...

(Hélène de La Roche-Fréon) * Michel Creton (Légionnaire Boissier) *

(Brigadier Béral) *

François Perrot François Perrot (26 February 1924 – 20 January 2019)Maurice Auzel Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor * Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

(Légionnaire Borzik) *

Matthias Habich Matthias Habich (born 12 January 1940) is a German actor who has appeared in more than 110 film and television productions since 1965. Habich was born in Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) and lives in Paris. In the 2001 film ''Enemy at the ...

(Oberstleutnant Karl Brenner) * Pierre Semmler (Hauptmann Ulrich Dieterle)

Production

Verneuil was developing the project for a number of years and was thinking of casting

Victor Lanoux Victor Lanoux (18 June 1936 – 4 May 2017) was a French actor best known to English speaking audiences for his role as Ludovic in '' Cousin, Cousine''. Biography Victor Lanoux, born Victor Robert Nataf was the son of a Tunisian Jew from Sfax a ...

when Belmondo read the script and wanted to do it. Filming took place on location in Tunisia.

Reception

The film was the sixth most popular movie of 1984 in France. However its box office performance was considered a slight disappointment.

References

External links