The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob
In this riot of frantic disguises and mistaken identities, Victor Pivert, a blustering, bigoted French factory owner, finds himself taken hostage by Slimane, an Arab rebel leader. The two dress up as rabbis as they try to elude not only assasins from Slimane's country, but also the police, who think Pivert is a murderer. Pivert ends up posing as Rabbi Jacob, a beloved figure who's returned to France for his first visit after 30 years in the United States. Adding to the confusion are Pivert's dentist-wife, who thinks her husband is leaving her for another woman, their daughter, who's about to get married, and a Parisian neighborhood filled with people eager to celebrate the return of Rabbi Jacob.
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- Cast：
- Louis de Funès , Suzy Delair , Marcel Dalio , Claude Giraud , Renzo Montagnani , Janet Brandt , André Falcon
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Reviews
Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
This early 70s movie is about a white catholic french racist man compelled to live a crazy week-end filled with Arabs and Jews! For sure, the movie plays on the clichés about everyone (even the french!) and it's really funny! As i kept laughing, am i a racist? not at all! i just like to have fun! Those who feel prejudiced by such movie can't understand humor and it's impossible to teach them now! For sure today we will have complains from all the communities in spite the freedom of expression! It's a shame, all the more than all involved in the production said that this movie was like a magical cure and led them to think over their attitudes! So racism is erased by making people ask questions and a movie like this is the perfect tool! In addition, a bit like the Titanic sinking in 1912, the movie was done in 1973 so the last year of economic growth before a lot of crisis and also massive immigration! So you really see what was France and particularly Paris then and it's sure totally different of what it is today!
In "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob", Louis De Funes can apply all his talents: Not only his notorious fast-talking that makes him even for native French speakers hard to understand, the sudden break-outs of his temper, his enormous capability for slapstick which included for him playing whole scenes without a double, but also his wonderful pantomimic talents. In this film, his name in "Pivert" (which sounds a bit like "pervert"), this is the bird pee-wit, and whenever Victor Pivert is asked about his name, he feels urged to imitate the bird in a pantomimic manner, whereby his acting gets every time more insane. De Funes played his movies with such an intensity that he suffered several heart attacks before his last one killed him in 1983. One of his sons, a heart-surgeon, should be constantly on the set. Did the Funes really play? French people say that the three greatest French comedians of all times were (in alphabetic order) Bourvil, Fernandel and Louis De Funes. In the films of Bourvil and Fernandel you can laugh with a warm and happy heart, but in the films of Louis De Funes you cry out with insane laughter. He was too short time of earth, but was in over 100 movies and in approximately 50 in the main role. And now look: In the USA there are exactly 2 of his movies available: "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" and "Delusions of Grandeur", both directed by the French comedy giant Gérard Oury. A third movie, again by Oury, you can buy from a New York video place for approximately 50 dollars on VHS: "La Grande Vadrouille" - by many considered one of the best French movies ever. And that's it. Only from the 6 "Le Gendarme De St-Tropez" movies which made De Funes internationally known, not one is on a DVD that would play on an average American player. For "The Gendarme in New York" you must pay fantasy prices for the only VHS recording that is long out of print. It is beyond human understanding that De Funes works are not available outside of France.
I first saw this when I was a kid on its first US release back in the early 1970's. I laughed to kill myself and thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. The quest to see the movie again over the last 30 years has been a labor of love. I don't think it ever aired on New York TV and its showings on cable can be counted on one hand. I was lucky enough to see it a a local revival theater a few years ago before it completely disappeared. Thanks to E-Bay I recently picked up a VHS copy and now comes word that a US release on DVD is moments away. Life couldn't be better.The one thing the handful of viewings of the film has taught me is that the movie plays differently every time I see it. Depending on mood it I may find it to be one of the funniest or one of the most charming films movies ever made. Some sequences in one viewing will leave me gasping for breath while other times it will simply make me smile. No matter though I've enjoyed it each time I've watched it.The story of a bigot who gets way laid and ends up on the run all over France only to end up posing as a beloved Rabbi, is ripe with comic potential most of which is put to good use. Also put to good use are some twists that no rational person would come up with, but which work in the context of a wild comedy, the bubble gum factory for example.This is a wonderful life affirming story that makes you laugh until you cry while showing that ultimately we are all the same. Which is kind of tragic in view of the films opening shots which are some of the earliest film footage shot at the World Trade Center, which had just opened.If you like to laugh see this movie, its wonderful.
This is one of the funniest, bust-a-gut laughing, most hysterical films ever made. It came out in France in 1973, and did so well that it was put into release (with subtitles) in the US, where it more than held its own. This is slapstick farce at its very best, triumphantly showcasing Luis De Funes, who was as big a comedy star in France as was Jerry Lewis. It is unfortunate that this is one of the only films of his that made it to America. The premise is the typical switched identities / coincidental mixups / innocent man being chased plots of the genre, but what makes this one sublime is the unbelievably rubber face and spot-on timing of De Funes, backed up by a good supporting cast, decent script and excellent direction. I first saw this in my teens when it originally came out, and my entire family all agreed that it was the funniest film we'd ever seen. I recently saw it again with my own children, and it has absolutely held up over thirty years. If you like comedy (particularly of the fish-out-of-water and/or slapstick variety) do your best to track this one down. It's worth it!PS: As a little treat, look closely at the actor who plays Rabbi Jacob. Look familiar? It was Marcel Dalio, who played the croupier in Casablanca!
