Two More Titles Coming Up From Olive Films in February
Posted December 28, 2012 04:58 PM by Webmaster
Olive Films have added up two more titles to their February slate. Both are classic French crime comedies from Gaumont's catalog directed by Georges Lautner: Les tontons flingueurs a.k.a Monsieur Gangster (1963) and Les Barbouzes a.k.a The Great Spy Chase (1964). Street date is February 26th.
The Great Spy Chase
An infamous arms dealer bequeaths his castle and a large collection of his patents to his beautiful young widow (Darc). These valuable patents would give its beholder an edge in the international arm race, so the Secret Services from several countries are sent to retrieve these priceless documents at any cost. The French agent Legneaux (Ventura) is under orders to seduce the heiress and retrieve the documents. It is spy vs. spy in this hilarious action-packed comedy as these super agents try to outsmart each other and survive the other's deadly traps. The stellar cast includes Bernard Blier, Lino Ventura, Francis Blanche, and Mireille Darc.
Monsieur Gangster
Fernand (Ventura) is a retired gangster who enjoys his life. He has been smart with his money and careful with his former enemies. He does not miss the good old days, though every once in awhile he wonders what happened to those who never got out of the "business". A good friend of Fernand and a respected crime boss, Louis "the Mexican" (Dumesnil), is informed that he has only a few days left to live. He invites Fernand to his house and tells him that he has chosen him to take over his business. Fernand must also look after Louis' soon-to-be-married daughter, Patricia (Sinjen). Fernand isn't happy with his friend's decision, but before he could walk away Louis summons his men and announces that they have a new boss. Almost immediately after that, he dies. Starring Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, Francis Blanche, Claude Rich, Jacques Dumesnil, and Sabine Sinjen.
Note: Blu-ray.com has already reviewed the French Blu-ray release of Monsieur Gangster, courtesy of Gaumont, here.
The French disc of Tontons is very nice, but it would be helpful if Olive included a translated version of its featurette on the slang and cultural references in the filmthat will pass many non-French speakers by.
