''The French Detective'' (french: Adieu poulet) is a

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

French film directed by

Pierre Granier-Deferre Pierre Granier-Deferre (27 July 1927 – 16 November 2007) was a French film director and screenwriter His 1971 film ''Le Chat'' (The Cat) won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival. His 196 ...

, and scripted by

Francis Veber Francis Paul Veber (born 28 July 1937) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, and playwright. He has written and directed both French and American films. Nine French-language films with which he has been involved, as either writer ...

from the 1974 novel ''Adieu poulet !'' by

Raf Vallet Jean Laborde (9 December 1918 – 30 January 2007) was a French journalist and writer. Personal life He was born in Lyon in December 9th, 1918, and studied law at university before commencing his career as a journalist. He died in Biarritz in ...

. It received two César nominations for best supporting actor, and another for

best editing This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

Plot

Despite the English title, in truth there are two French detectives, based in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

. Verjeat is an aging, been-around gumshoe, while Lefevre is his young, callow and cynical associate. The two detectives don't like each other much at first, but this will change. Their current assignment is getting the goods on a corrupt politician. During an election, there is a fight between the supporters of two of the candidates. In the melee political thugs murder an opponent's volunteer and also kill a cop. The officer has time to warn his colleagues that the killer is Portor, a well known thug whose brother is campaigning on behalf of law and order candidate Lardatte. Chief inspector Verjeat believes the politician who hired the thugs is as guilty as the murderous goon. His pursuit of Portor is hampered by Lardatte, for whom he has a personal dislike and misses no opportunity to humiliate. Verjeat's pursuit of Lardatte gets him a warning from his superiors. When he embarrasses Lardatte while disarming a hostage (the dead volunteer's father), Verjeat is told he's being promoted and transferred within a week to a posting outside of Rouen. This will take him off the case. As a result, he then finds himself with a very short time to capture Portor. Verjeat is sure that his upcoming transfer is courtesy of Lardatte and his police contacts. He speeds up his hunt for the goon and, with Lefevre, he engineers a complicated scheme to buy more time before the transfer.

Cast

Lino Ventura Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura (14 July 1919 – 22 October 1987), known as Lino Ventura, was an Italian actor who grew up in France and starred in many French films. Born in Italy, he was raised in Paris by his mother. After a first caree ...

as Verjeat *

Patrick Dewaere Patrick Dewaere (26 January 1947 – 16 July 1982) was a French film actor. Born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, he was the son of French actress Mado Maurin. Actor from a young age, his career lasted more than 21 years, until his suicide in ...

as Lefevre * Victor Lanoux as Pierre Lardatte *

Claude Rich Claude Rich (8 February 1929 – 20 July 2017) was a French stage and screen actor. He began his career in the theater before his film debut in 1955. Personal life He married actress Catherine Renaudin on 26 June 1959. They had two daughters, ...

as Judge Delmesse *

Pierre Tornade Pierre Tornade (21 January 1930 – 7 March 2012) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 120 films and television shows between 1956 and 1998. Biography He was born Pierre Tournadre on 21 January 1930 in Bort-les-Orgues in the depart ...

as Pignol * Claude Brosset as Portor *

Jean Collomb Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

as the barman *

Dominique Zardi Dominique Zardi (born Emile Jean Cohen-Zardi; 2 March 1930 – 13 December 2009) was a French actor from Paris. He acted in more than 200 feature films, including '' Fantômas'' with Louis De Funès and Jean Marais. He died of cancer Cancer ...

as a patient *

Henri Attal Henri Attal (1936 in Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely popul ...

as a gangster *

Valérie Mairesse Valérie Mairesse (born 8 June 1954) is a French stage and film actress. She was nominated for the César Awards 1978 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Repérages ''Faces of Love'' (french: Repérages) is a 1977 Swiss French dra ...

as The rosettes girl

References

External links

* * 1975 films Films directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre 1970s crime thriller films 1970s comedy thriller films French crime thriller films French comedy thriller films Police detective films Films scored by Philippe Sarde 1975 comedy films 1970s French-language films 1970s French films {{crime-thriller-film-stub