''The Twin'' (french: Le jumeau) is a

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

French

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

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 with ...

, starring

Pierre Richard Pierre Richard (born Pierre-Richard Maurice Charles Léopold Defays; 16 August 1934) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films. Pierre Richard is considered by many, such as ...

, Camilla More and Carey More. Based on

Donald Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...

's novel ''Two Much'', the story involves an indebted Frenchman who meets a pair of beautiful and rich American twin sisters. Inventing a twin brother, he manages to marry both and live their opulent lifestyle. Its American/Spanish remake '' Two Much'', starring Antonio Banderas and

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

, was released in 1995.

Plot

Owner of a struggling business in Paris, Matthias Duval stakes all he has in a game of poker and loses. At a party he meets a beautiful young American, Liz, and they soon end up in bed. Next morning she says that she has a twin called Betty, to which he jokes that he has a twin called Mathieu. When he meets Betty, she says she must meet his brother. Creating a different persona as "Mathieu", he starts romancing Betty as well. What he does not know is that each sister must get married by the end of the year or she will lose her share of the fortune left by their parents. The lawyer in charge of the estate, Volpinex, warns Matthias to stay away from them. Betty marries "Mathieu" secretly, and next morning as Matthias he decides he must break with Liz. She convinces him to get engaged to her by the promise of 4,000 dollars a month plus sexual freedom. Using the latter clause, in persona as Matthias he spends a night with Liz. She flies him to the US to marry him there. Matthias then leaves Liz to go on an imaginary business trip to Japan, while "Mathieu" joins his wife Betty and her lonely sister in an isolated seaside house they own, When the twins are out one night, the lawyer Volpinex appears. He has solid evidence that there is only one Matthias, who has married bigamously to defraud the parents' estate. In a struggle, Volpinex is accidentally shot and a fire accidentally started. "Mathieu" disappears, learning from the radio that the police believe the charred corpse to be his and that Volpinex, who has disappeared, must be the murderer. Hastily returning from Japan, Matthias resumes relations with his wife Liz and comforts the bereaved Betty. In fact, the girls knew of his duplicity all along and are happy to live as a ménage à trois.

Cast

as Matthias Duval/"Matthieu Duval" *

Jean-Pierre Kalfon Jean-Pierre Kalfon (born 30 October 1938) is a French actor and singer. Selected filmography External links * 1938 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors Male actors from Paris French male stage a ...

as Ernest Volpinex * Camilla More as Betty Kerner * Carey More as Liz Kerner *

Jacques Frantz Jacques Frantz (4 April 1947 – 17 March 2021) was a French actor. Nominated for the Molière Award, he was renowned for his theatre work, and his voice, which he lent to many actors, such as Robert De Niro, Mel Gibson, John Goodman, and Nick ...

as Ralph *

Françoise Dorner Françoise Dorner (born 17 June 1949, Paris) is a French actress, screenwriter, author of plays and novels. Biography Actress Dorner appeared for the first time in the cinema thanks to Éric Le Hung who entrusted her in 1975 one of the main rol ...

as Marie *

Andréa Ferréol Andréa Ferréol (born Andrée Louise Ferréol; January 6, 1947) is a French actress and officer of the Ordre national du Mérite (2009). Her debut was in the 1973 film '' La Grande bouffe'', which made a big scandal at the Cannes Film Festival. ...

as Evie *

Jean-Pierre Castaldi Jean-Pierre Castaldi (born 1 October 1944) is a French actor. He is the father of French TV presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television program ...

as Charlie *

Paul Le Person Paul Le Person (10 February 1931 in Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the a ...

as the beggar *Isabelle Strawa as Nikki *

as a man in the elevator (cameo appearance)

References

External links

*
Review
at Films de France

at Commeaucimena.com 1980s French-language films 1980s sex comedy films 1984 romantic comedy films 1980s screwball comedy films French sex comedy films 1984 films French romantic comedy films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Donald E. Westlake Films scored by Vladimir Cosma 1980s French films {{1980s-romantic-comedy-film-stub