The Story:
In the bustling streets of post-war Paris, Léon Martin (Noël-Noël), a steadfast accountant who scoffs at the automobile age, cherishes his life on foot and by Metro alongside his devoted wife Marguerite (Denise Grey); but when their daughter Mireille (Sophie Daumier) announces her love for the dashing Paul de Grandlieu (Gil Vidal), scion of aristocratic wealth, Léon must swallow his pride to court favor with the elite in-laws.
Thrust into the chaotic world of modern mobility, Léon endures the ordeal of securing a driver’s license with Marguerite, only to be swindled at the Auto Show into purchasing a lemon of a Quatre-Chevaux; the real trial unfolds on a fateful hunting expedition to the Grandlieu estate in Sologne, where Léon’s inept horsemanship and the car’s endless breakdowns unleash a torrent of hilarious disasters amid high-society snobbery.
Will Léon’s frantic foray into wheels and spurs secure his daughter’s future, or reveal the folly of chasing status on four wheels? A rollicking satire of bourgeois pretensions, directed by Maurice Delbez, featuring sparkling early turns by Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Pierre Cassel—don’t miss this 1957 comedy gem that drives home the joys of staying grounded!
