Émile l'Africain (1948)
Directed by Robert Vernay

Film Review

If ever there was proof that director Robert Vernay was ill-suited for comedy, this is surely it.  Grand period dramas were Vernay's forte, evidenced by his two big budget adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo, not silly, inconsequential comedies featuring comic actor Fernandel.  Émile l'Africain is something of a career low point for both Vernay and the horse-faced comedian, a rambling humourless timewaster that would doubtless be deemed unacceptably racist if it were made today.  Careless racism aside (well, the film was made before France lost all its colonies), the film's main failing is that it just fails to be funny.  The script is abysmal and Fernandel's attempts to extract a laugh (at least he tries) become unbearable way before the film's midpoint.  What makes this all the more surprising is that the plot - revolving around a clueless prop man trying to pass himself off as an African magnate - has such immense potential.  You can easily imagine a more capable comedy director like Jean Boyer having a field day with the film.  But in Vernay's dead hands it just withers to the point that it is hardly worth the effort.

Film Synopsis

Mild-mannered studio prop man Emile is surprised when he meets up with his wife twenty years after their separation.  It appears that their daughter Martine is about to get married, to a young man named Daniel, and is eager to win her father's consent.  Realising that Daniel could so easily end up becoming the victim of his authoritarian ex-wife, Emile advises his future son-in-law to show that he is not a man who is easily controlled.  To that end, Emile concocts a far-fetched story involving gangsters.  Unfortunately, what started out as a harmless fiction soon becomes a dangerous reality...