Road Runners

The Sucker is a car-crazy, crime-happy French farce that never stops long enough to be ticketed for its frequent wrong turns. In the title role, France's mononymic comedian Bourvil has too much worldly charm and intelligence to make a convincing jerk, yet he is hilarious all the same as he takes a sexy Roman manicurist to dinner and absently dips his fingers in a water glass when she asks to hold his hand.

Lacking a tiger in its tank, Sucker manages pretty well with a sly fox named Louis de Funes, full of snarly good humor as the high-class crook in charge of plots. After his Bentley has bested Bourvil's midget Citroen in a two-car tie-up, De Funes decides that he has found the dupe to drive a certain white Cadillac convertible from Naples to Bordeaux. More than hot, the Cad is a crime wave on wheels; its bumpers are full of gold, its fenders are full of heroin, its battery contains a fortune in precious stones, and the fabulous You-Koun-Koun diamond is hidden among the optional accessories.

Under Director Gerard Oury, Bourvil's trip follows the standard itinerary of scenic vistas and sight gags, with wayside dalliance supplied by the Italian manicurist and a blossomy German blonde, De Funes stays right behind him all the way in a green Jaguar, which is tailed, in turn, by a furtive Austin-Healey carrying members of a rival gang. Always mirthful if not memorable, and photographed in crisp showroom color, The Sucker is funniest on side excursions, particularly a sopping wet and agreeably ribald robbers-and-robbers chase among the stony nudes of the Tivoli fountains near Rome.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.