The Big Vacation (Les grandes vacances) (1967)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1967
Running Time	84:55
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jean Girault
Studio Distributor	Canal+ Madman Entertainment	Starring	Louis de Funès Ferdy Mayne Martine Kelly François Leccia Olivier De Funès Claude Gensac Maurice Risch Jacques Dynam Dominique Davray Mario David Jean St. Clair Christiane Muller Denise Provence
Case	?
RPI	Box	Music	Raymond Lefevre

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Les Grandes vacances is one of Louis de Funès most popular films. The 1967 film directed by Jean Girault who had directed many films starring Funès including the successful 'Gendarme' films, was made at the height of Funès’ popularity. In 1966 he had broken box office records with La Grande Vadrouille which co-starred Bourvil and was one of France’s highest grossing films of all time (behind Titanic (1997)) until Dany Boon’s Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis in 2008.

In Les Grandes vacances Funès plays irate Monsieur Charles Bosquier, a director of a private school, whose eldest son Philippe (François Leccia), has just failed his end of year exams. Displeased with his teenage son’s performance, Charles decides to send Philippe to England for one month so he can improve his English and re-sit the exam.

Philippe is to stay with MacFarrell (Ferdy Mayne), who is a wealthy whiskey distiller in England, while MacFarrell’s teenage daughter Shirley (Martine Kelly) in exchange will stay with the Bosquier family.

However, as expected, Bosquier’s plans fall apart as Philippe intends to go sailing with his friends and tries to send fellow student Stephane (Maurice Risch) in his place. Meanwhile Shirley begins to distract Bosquier’s younger son Gerald (played by Funès' real life son Olivier De Funès) and the two decide to meet with Philippe.

Eventually the truth of the teenagers’ whereabouts is revealed sending Bosquier and MacFarrell to Scotland to search for Philippe and Shirley, who have since fallen for one another, and Gerald.

Video

Presented in 2:35:1 16x9 enhanced widescreen, the transfer is satisfactory considering the age of the film. The overall colour scheme remains natural and the picture is sharp and defined.

Shadow detail is equally adequate; mild film grain appears throughout the feature film. Telecine Wobble is visible on a few occasions but is not distracting.

There are no subtitles available on this DVD title.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The single audio track is a 2.0 English mono soundtrack. It remains crisp and clear throughout the feature.

This DVD is released for an English speaking market, so I understand Madman’s decision for offering the (French accented) English dubbed soundtrack, although including the original French soundtrack would have be a welcomed addition to this disc.

The film includes an infectious playful score by Raymond Lefevre.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu

The Main Menu is composed of a still of a promotional image of the film. There are 12 scene selections.

This title is available in France as a ‘Studio Canal’ release. The transfer of the film is identical.

The R2 DVD includes the original French language mono soundtrack. Please note there are no English subtitles available on this DVD.

There is a 13 minute ‘Making-Of’ composed of recent interviews of cast and crew. Also included is the trailer, bibliographies and a quiz.

Classic French Comedy, presented with an excellent transfer and a dubbed English soundtrack.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall