This is an important day for Marc Chanois, an insurance advisor heading toward middle age: it's his fiancée Sabine's birthday, her parents arrive in Paris and Marc will meet them for dinner to announce the engagement (her father can't stand him), he's bought Sabine a Spitfire, and his most important client is to sign a policy. But, as the day wears on, he's vexed by an incompetent secretary, the unexpected return of a girlfriend he hasn't seen in five years, squatters who use his office at night, the jealous former lover of a flight attendant who lives in the building, and his boss's unexpected return from a Swiss clinic. Will he reach Sabine in one piece?
Acting
Richard Berry's escalating panic is physical comedy gold.
Writing
Rube Goldberg plotting that French cinema does best.
Director
Miguel Courtois
Anne Brochet
Martine
Richard Berry
Marc Chanois
Christian Charmetant
Francis
Gilbert Melki
Bernard
François Perrot
Devèze
Guilaine Londez
Gisèle
Julie Debazac
Ingrid
Edéa Darcque
Joséphine
Bruno Slagmulder
Gilou
Eric Prat
M. Germaine
Firmine Richard
La mère de Sabine
Françoise Pinkwasser
Louise
Jean-François Garreaud
René, le père de Sabine
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Spitfire was a real 1943 Mk IX, one of only ten airworthy in France at the time. They crashed zero of them, which is honestly the film's biggest miracle.
This bombed theatrically but became a cult VHS hit in France — the ultimate 'discovered it too late' comedy that predicted the streaming redemption arc by two decades.
FR
