La Cuisine au Beurre (1963)

	Also Known As: Alles in Butter, My Wife's Husband
	Year of first release: 1963
	Director: Gilles Grangier
	Actors: Fernandel (La Vache et le Prisonier), Bourvil (La Grande Vadrouille), Claire Maurier
	Country: F, I
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 20.01.2018, in-flight entertainment system 10" screen.
Synopsis: Presumed killed during WWII, Fernand Jouvin (Fernandel) was in fact enjoying the hospitality of a farm in Tirol. When forced to go back to his old life, he finds out that his wife (Maurier) has remarried to a Normand Chef (Bourvil) now in charge of his former restaurant.
Review: The deception of the 2015 remake Pension Complète was good for one thing: make me want to re-discover this classic of the post-war French comedies which united two of the monsters of the time: Fernandel and Bourvil. The humor was undoubtedly different 50 years ago, spending more time focusing on the acting of the main characters rather then enumerating gags. And this movie really looks like it was designed around the one-off collaboration of the two actors, with roles customized to the character we associate them to: Bourvil from Normandie, rigorous, hard-working, insecure and stressed against Fernandel from Marseilles, carefree, cheat, a bit lazy and appreciating the good-life. The relationship within the trio of wife and two husbands evolves slowly, often driven by a manipulating Fernandel. And the whole story revolves around a couple of very French themes like the rivalry North/South in lifestyle, weather and of course cooking thus the title (butter is the main cooking ingredient in Normandy vs. olive oil in the south). Even if not as cult as La Grande Vadrouille (with Bourvil and Louis de Funès), La Cuisine au Beurre was for me very easy and pleasant to watch, even if just to re-discover that period of cinema and those two French monuments that were Bourvil and Fernandel, especially in the few scenes when they exchange anecdotes (cleverly not audible to the audience) that launch them into bursts of laughter (see picture below), very contagious.
Rating: 7 /10