This July 29, 2022, M6 will broadcast the legendary film Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez, the first opus in a long series of feature films directed by Jean Girault. At the top of the bill, the famous actor Louis de Funès who interprets the chief sergeant Ludovic Cruchot. At his side, other big names in French cinema including Michel Galabru, Jean Lefebvre, Christian Marin, Guy Grosso and Michel Modo.
While the films of the saga met with great success, the backstage was less flourishing. Indeed, a conflict between Louis de Funès and Jean Lefebvre would have broken out. The star of Fantômas would not have supported “the new notoriety” of his sidekick, reported Femme Actuelle. An internal conflict which was mediated by Jean Lefebvre, the latter believing that he had been cut during the editing in the film Le gendarme se marie. Faced with this, it was director Jean Girault who stepped up to the plate in Paris-Jour, saying that the latter was “mediocre” and that he was the “highest paid extra in the world”.
In his autobiography Why does it only happen to me?, Jean Lefebvre returned to this war which opposed the two actors. “I only saw de Funès once, years later, at a cocktail party. He was there, with his wife, and he was watching me from afar, without saying a word. forced me to greet me”, he wrote and added: “His wife refused to hold out her hand to me. So I forced the explanation, because it seemed to me that it was necessary to settle this problem once and for all.” Listen, Louis, when I attacked you publicly, I was mad with anger. I was starting to have a little name and by arbitrarily deleting my scenes, you did me wrong. It seems to me that the least you could have done was to warn me, to have the courage to warn me”. (…) De Funès remained silent for a few moments, then he stood up. “You you’re right,” he told me.
The saga will end with the death of Louis de Funès, which occurred on January 27, 1983.
