On Sunday November 10 at 9:10 p.m., France 2 broadcasts The big mop. A cult comedy carried by a top duo, Bouvril-De Funès, which could have been totally different…
Bourvil and Louis De Funès, here is a star duo of French comedies who in 1966 had not finished making their mark. After April Fools (1954), The Hussarss (1955), The Crossing of Paris (1956) et Le Corniaud (1965), they embarked on another success: The big mop. A film by Gérard Oury, who has long reigned supreme at the French box office with just over 17,267,000 spectators. In short, a cult comedy, but which could have been totally different! Because yes, at the start, the director and his daughter Danièle Thompson, screenwriter, had other ideas.
The big mop: One of the first comedies set during the occupation
The big mop takes us into the middle of the Second World War, for one of the first comedies to make fun of one of the most troubled periods in history. It all began in 1942, when an English plane was shot down in the sky over Paris. Fortunately, three aviators escaped by parachuting. If one lands in the Vincennes zoo, his companions will end up elsewhere. One nestles on the scaffolding of Augustin, responsible for redoing the facade of the Kommandantur. When the other finishes his race in the heart of the Palais Garnier, facing Stanislas, conductor. A house painter and a musician, two men who will join the resistance against their will, trying to get the English pilots into the free zone…
The big mop : What if this cult film had been completely different?
Gérard Oury's initial idea was nevertheless quite far from the final scenario. Initially, the director wanted to form a duo of women to cross France under occupation, a prostitute and a bigot. Finally, Bourvil and De Funès took over. Two stars who could have faced a different ending than the one we know. Indeed, the idea was to take them across the Pyrenees on skis so that they could reach Spain. A great idea, but left aside because it was simply too expensive to realize…
