I don’t review a lot of comedies because I’ve learned, over the years, that its very hard to predict what will make any other person laugh. I might tell you that this is a side-splitting comedy and you’ll sit through it sober as a preacher and swear that you’ll never read my reviews again! Since I watch a lot more movies than my wife and I’ve had plenty of time to get to understand her tastes, I am pretty good at picking out films that she’ll enjoy – but even then I occasionally misjudge. Guessing what will evoke laughter for people you’ve never met is an impossible task. If a film is a mixed genre, like romantic comedy, you can at least hope that the romance might save the film for a viewer even if the comedy fails. With a straight comedy, however, it all comes down to whether the comedy was or was not funny. It’s as if we have an internal laugh meter for evaluating comedies and if it registers a high score, nothing else about that film really matters. On the other hand, no amount of great cinematography or skillful direction can bail out a comedy if it doesn’t produce loads of laughter or, at least, some paroxysms of interior chortling.

So, as I settle in to write this review of The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, I am acutely aware of the fact that one reviewer for this film stated, “When was the last time your sides were split by laughter? This frothy French farce – one of the most acclaimed comedies of recent years – will do it for you.” Yet, another wrote, “This film has poor production values, the acting is mediocre, and the situations . . . only attain the level of mild amusement on occasion.” I can’t promise you that you’ll be in the former camp rather than the latter one, although six of seven reviews that I came across were positive. Myself? I’ve watched this comedy more times than any other and it never fails to put a broad smile on my face that lasts for hours after the film has ended as various scenes are recalled.

The set-up for this film is creatively unique. An international incident has occurred in New York City in which a French intelligence agent has been found in possession of illegal drugs. This event has threatened the job of the Head of French Intelligence, Louis Toulouse (Jean Rochefort). Toulouse and his dependable agent, Perrache (Paul Le Person), suspect that the crisis has been engineered by the ambitious Bernard Milan (Bernard Blier), who figures to take over if Toulouse is pushed out. Toulouse, who has discovered that his apartment is bugged, decides to invent a “fools trap” that will expose Milan as well as any secret agents he has working with him. Toulouse tells Perrache, in easy hearing range of the hidden microphones, that a top secret agent will be arriving with important information about that business in New York and that Perrache and two other French agents are to make sure that no harm comes to him. Then, he takes Perrache out to the balcony where they can speak privately and tells him to go to the airport and pick someone at random – “anybody, a man in the crowd, anyone at all, the more anonymous the better. He’s to bait the hook.”

At the airport, Perrache, who is a pensive, introspective type, ruminates over whom to pick, but is finally inspired by the appearance of a tall, thin blond man who, for some unknown reason, is wearing one black shoe and one brown shoe. This is enough to imbue him with a touch of mystery and Milan impulsively rushes into the trap. The supposed top secret agent is actually a rather hapless violinist, names François Perrin (Pierre Richard) an ordinary but blundering kind of guy with a childlike quality of innocence. Soon, bugging devices have been placed all over Perrin’s apartment, including one in the toilet that is set at an excessively high volume. Outside, surprised passersby hear greatly amplified flushing sound gushing from the spies' van. Within hours, Perrin’s life story has been ferreted out by Milan’s team of agents. Every ordinary detail of his past and present life seems to magnify Perrin’s credentials as a superagent, in Milan’s twisted, paranoid mind. All of this frenzy of activity proceeds without Perrin’s slightest suspicion or awareness.

I’ll try to describe as best as I can, with the constraint of mere words, one of the many funny scenes so that, hopefully, you can better judge if the style of humor of this film is to your taste. Perrin is having an affair with Paulette (Colette Castel), who is the wife of Perrin’s friend and fellow-musician, Maurice (Jean Carmet). Maurice is (in Paulette’s own words) a poor slob and quite obnoxious, especially because he is a tireless prankster. Paulette shows up at Perrin’s apartment for a sexual rendezvous, which is duly transmitted to a van that has been rigged for sound and disguised as a florist’s delivery van. It is operated by Milan’s henchmen and is parked outside Perrin’s apartment building. We hear what transpires as the agents listen to it in the truck. Paulette: “Do the horse!” François: “No.” Paulette (pleading): “Do the horse!” François (sulking): “No!” Paulette (simpering): “Do the horse!” François: “Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!” All recorded on tape outside in the spy van.

Later, Maurice comes to meet François for a previously agreed upon bike ride. François wants to cancel because of a toothache, but Maurice won’t hear of it. He badgers François relentlessly, tweeks his nose, slaps him around, and generally behaves like the obnoxious slob that he is. Later, they part company, much to François’ relief. Milan has arrived at the sound van to review what’s been caught on tape so far. The van is now circling around the block and Maurice, on his bike, comes riding up behind. He hears Paulette’s voice coming from the “Florist’s van”, in the throes of passion. He starts chasing after the van, which now speeds up. As Maurice draws closer, peddling as fast as he can, he and we hear, “Do the horse!” “No.” “Do the horse!” “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!” And Maurice plummets off of his bike!

Meantime, François is brushing his teeth in the bathroom of his apartment. In the process of bugging his apartment earlier, the agents also, rather humorously, took samples of the toothpaste and shaving cream and while replacing the contents, mixed up the two, putting shaving cream in the toothpaste tube and toothpaste in the shaving cream can. Consequently, François is brushing his teeth with shaving cream, which (as one would have no particular reason to know) apparently produces bubbles! Lots of bubbles! The door bell rings and François answers the door with the tooth paste – or rather, shaving cream – still in his mouth. It is Maurice, disconsolate and shell-shocked, saying “Paulette is in love with the florist.” François is, of course, incredulous, but Maurice goes on, “No, it’s true! I heard them just now making love in the back of the delivery van. She asked him to play horsey. His voice sounded a lot like yours.” All the while that Maurice is sobbing out this woeful tale, François is hiccupping and producing bubbles in the air. “Cut that out!”, says Maurice, aggravated.

I have to add, as well, a bit about one of Milan’s operatives in particular – the dynamite gorgeous Christine (Mireille Darc). Darc gives a level of refinement to the word “svelte” that could not have previously existed before she came along. She is assigned the task of seducing the bumbling Perrin, whom Milan still believes to be a top secret agent. Every guy in the audience of – shall we say – roughly ordinary appeal to the fair sex can’t help but wistfully identify when the stunning Christine shows up at François’ doorstep, speaking in a soft, sexy voice, inviting him to come over to her place to examine her antique instruments. François is rendered utterly speechless. Later, when he arrives at her apartment, after his orchestra concert, she is wearing a black evening gown that looks appealing, though ordinary enough, from the front, but when she turns around to go for drinks, we and Perrin see that it is, in fact, cut rather low in the back – no, make that very low cut, revealing a fair share of her nether cheeks. Hopeless testosterone-driven chaps that we are, our chins drop! François bumbles his way through the seduction ritual, giving himself a bloody nose at one point and getting Christine’s hair caught in his fly zipper at another. Don’t ask how that happened! You’ll have to discover that for yourself!

The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (or Le Grand Blond Avec Une Chaussure Noire) is, obviously, a spoof on the spy thriller genre, in the manner of, say, the American television series Get Smart or, perhaps, the Pink Panther series of films, but with the distinctive French flavor of a frothy farce. The director of the film, Yves Robert, had a distinguished career spanning the sixties through the nineties and is best known for the comedy genre. Pierre Richard gained international fame from The Tall Blond Man and appeared in a pair of fine comedies opposite Gerard Depardieu: Les Comperes and La Chevre. Richard and Depardieu make a kind of Laurel and Hardy pairing. Mireille Darc ended up getting less exposure than I would have liked – whoops, that doesn’t sound quite right – but starred in Weekend, a 1967 Godard film best known for breaking nearly every convention of film making. For me, the performances in The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe are just as they should be – from the principles right on through the many character actors and actresses. The dialogue is witty and the comic setups absolutely brilliant. I’ve never seen anything funnier! There are madcap chases, bodies appearing and disappearing, gum stuck on shoes, and so forth. I also love the sound track, which consists mainly of an infectious melody played on a panpipe. It invariably haunts my mind for a day or so each time after I watch this film. The film is dubbed in English and the dubbing is better than most. The running time is 90 minutes.

A sequel was made in 1974 called the Return of the Tall Blond Man. I’ve only seen it once and it may grow on me, but for now, I have to say it doesn’t work as well as the original. An American remake came out in 1985 starring Tom Hanks, called The Man with One Red Shoe. I’ve also seen that film just once and much as I respect Hanks, I’ll never choose to see it again. It belongs in the waste can.


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You might want to check out these other excellent films from France:

Alphaville
Amélie
The Battle of Algiers
La Belle et la Bête
Bob le Flambeur
Le Boucher
Boudu Saved from Drowning
A Bout de Souffle
La Cage aux Folles
Céline and Julie Go Boating
La Cérémonie
La Chèvre
Children of Paradise
Cléo from 5 to 7
Un Coeur en Hiver
Contempt
Cyrano de Bergerac
Delicatessen
The Dinner Game
Diva
The Earrings of Madame de . . .
Entre Nous
Eyes Without a Face
La Femme Nikita
Forbidden Games
French Cancan
Grand Illusion
Harvest
Hate
The Horseman on the Roof
Jean de Florette/Manon
The King of Hearts
Last Year at Marienbad
Life and Nothing But
Madame Rosa
A Man Escaped
Le Million
Monsieur Hire
The Mother and the Whore
La Nuit de Varennes
Pépé le Moko
Peppermint Soda
Playtime
Providence
Rififi
La Ronde
Round Midnight
The Rules of the Game
Le Samourai
Summer
A Sunday in the Country
Three Colors
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Vagabond
Wages of Fear

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age