59 years later, we still think of this timeless replica of French cinema every time we look up its words in English.

As we grew up on the cinema of Louis de Funes, there are many lines taken from his most famous films that automatically come to mind in certain situations.

“The poor make the very poor, and the rich make the very rich!” “It’s all bullshit!” “Get the hell off me or I’ll fix you!” “He lies in German!” “You as usual: I promise you everything, and I give nothing!”

Countless shots

From La Folie des grandeurs to La Grande Vadrouille via Hibernatus or La Zizanie, there is no shortage of examples of phrases that have remained in the public memory in the career of the man many French consider one of the greatest comedians of all time. .

• 56 years later, we’re still using this brilliant line coined by the best French dialogue writer

In a certain number of these passages we regularly encounter a very specific feature: an obvious and often ridiculous discrepancy between the language of Moliere and Shakespeare. In fact, there are many characters in Louis de Funes who claim to speak English even though they don’t speak it at all.

This gives lines like “But then you’re French”, “You’re very handsome, but I’d rather see you there” or even “I’m sure it’s a Fantômas move.”

between English and French

In this regard, the sequence that best illustrates this break between English and French is found in Le Gendarme à New York, the second opus of the famous saga, directed by Jean Girard in 1965. During the delicious scene, Crucho (played by Louis de Funes). ) makes it his mission to impart poor English to his boss Herbert and his subordinates before they head to the United States.

In the cabin of their liner, the gendarme prepares a small lesson, which leads to a cooking competition, multiple nervous breakdowns, and therefore… many juicy little proposals.

What has settled most comfortably into the collective unconscious of French society is clearly:

“My flowers are beautiful.”

Extremely rudimentary and devoid of any comic force if taken out of context, this line becomes instantly funny when we recall the famous sequence where Crusoe explains the structure of the sentence to Gerbert and Merlot, who eventually argue and come to the following conclusion: “Your flowers are cake!”

Gently teasing a friend who looks up words in English with a questionable accent, or pointing out one’s own shortcomings in the matter, it’s often wise to remove a bit. “My flowers are beautiful.” his cap.

What is your favorite line from Louis de Funès?

(Re)discover the trailer for “Gendarme in New York”…