In La folie des grandeurs (1971) Louis de Funes boasts his extraordinary comical skills , pairing him alongside the great Ives Montand . This big budgeted production of court intrigue is set in 17th-century Spain, Don Salluste (Louis de Funès) , an egoistic , bigot aristocrat falls from grace . Wanting vengeance , the disgraced Minister of Finance of the Spanish kingdom attempts to compromize the Queen (Karin Schubert) with his servant Blaze (Ives Montand) , introduced as his cousin , while the king (Alberto De Mendoza) is snooping here and there to discover the alleged adultery . But poor Blaze gets stuck with a rather domineering governess (Alice Saprtich) , who is madly in love with him and very keen on getting her way .

A Louis de Funes recital giving his ordinary likeable acting as a miser Ministry of Finance and Ives Montand as his womanizer valet , both of them impersonating two roguish and ambitious people . This "sympathetic villain" Sallustre is the persona that defined the most iconic French comedian of all-time: Louis de Funès. ¨La folie des grandeurs (1971) "' is certainly one of the most successful of all the movies adapted from Victor Hugo novel . Including lavish and nice production design as well as colorful cinematography and evocative musical score . Being based loosely on Victor Hugo's novel , Ruy Blas . In fact , it is a very free rendition about the legendary personage immortalized by Victor Hugo . Funny and entertaining Louis de Funes vehicle in which he shows his classic hilarious vein . Being a good occasion for discover the art of Louis de Funes . Wonderfully played by the great Louis de Funes playing a petty tyrant in his own home and minister of the King of Spain , who attempts to dishonor the queen with an overly twisted scheme . Funes had a long and interesesting career , from his first roles as "Devil and 10 Commandments" , "Captain Fracassa" , "La Vendetta" until his biggest hits as "Don't look we are being shot" along with Bourvil , ¨Fantomas trilogy¨performed along with Jean Marais , Mylene Demengeot : "Fantomas" , "Fantomas Strikes Again", "Fantomas vs Scotland Yard" , to "The Cadillac Man" , "The Restaurant" , "Wing and the thigh" and his last film feature : "The mad adventures of Rabbi Jacob" . Although Funes really excelled in Ludovico Cruchot series as "Le Gendarme of Saint Tropez" , "Gendarme in Balade", "Le Gendarme in N. Y." , "Le Gendarme and creatures of outer space" and "Le Gendarme and Gendarmettes". While De Funès' last three movies, at a time , he had to moderate his frenetic style of comedy following his cardiac episode . This wild comedy takes off at a dashing pace set by the De Funes , Montand great duo . Co-stars Ives Montand who stands out as his attractive and astute servant , Montand displays comedian attitude too , while being usually a dramatic actor as proved in ¨Wages of fear¨ , ¨Z¨, ¨Grand Prix¨ , ¨Jean De Florette¨, ¨Manon of the Spring¨, ¨State of siege¨ , ¨Napoleon¨ , ¨ On a clear day¨ , ¨You can see forever¨ , among others . Support cast is nice with plenty of ordinary secondaries from different countries , such as : Spanish people as Alberto de Mendoza , Don Jaime de Mora y Aragón , Eduardo Fajardo , Antonio Pica , La Polaca , Fernando Hilbeck , Antonio Iranzo, Jesus Tordesillas, Angel Alvarez , Ricardo palacios, Fernando Bilbao , Frank Braña , Xan Das Bolas ; Italian actors : Venantino Venantini , Gabriele Tinti , Leopoldo Trieste and French players : Paul Preboist , Roger Carel and special mention for Alice Sapritch as the repulsive duenna .

Adding a colorful cinematography in brilliant Eastmancolor shot on several Spanish locations in Palace of Charles V, The Alhambra, Granada, Andalucía, Court of the Lions, The Alhambra, Granada, Palacio de Generalife, La Alhambra , Isla Minima del Guadalquivir, La Puebla del Río, Sevilla, Andalucía, La Calahorra, Granada, Andalucía, Desierto de Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Pedraza, Segovia, Castilla y León La Pedriza, Manzanares el Real, Madrid, El Escorial ,Hospital de Tavera, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha . As well as evocative score and opulent settings by expert production designers . The motion picture was lavish and professionally written/directed by Gérard Oury who acted in that play at the Comédie-Française , being a classic stage actor : Racine's "Brittanicus" . Oury was a star and supporting actor in European and American film adventures, he turned to comedy as a director and helmed a string of successful comedies . His country's top actors as Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Jean-Paul Belmondo, etc worked with him . He collaborated with daughter Danièle Thompson on several of his screenplays , including "Don't Look Now" (1969) , Levi and Goliath (1987) , La Grande Vadrouille (1966)) that retains the record for attendance by a French movie, and was only dethroned as the top ticket-seller ever in France by Titanic (1997). In turn, Danièle collaborated with her son and Gérard's grandson, Christopher Thompson, on several screenplays, including La bûche (1999) and "Jet Lag" (2002). Rating : 6.5/10 . Essential and indispensable watching for Louis de Funes and Ives Montand fans . Well worth seeing.

This film appears to be set in late 17th century Spain, but it is NOT just another costume drama. That's because it has a bizarre and often cartoony style about it--and as I knew nothing about the film, I was taken by surprise. In some ways, the cartoony ways reminded me of the dumb but very funny "The Villain".

The film is about the inept and evil Don Salluste (Louis de Funès) and his valet, Blaze (Yves Montand). It's obvious that Salluste is an idiot and Blaze is the brains of the operation--much like Jeeves & Wooster. However, after Salluste robs the poor and behaves like a boorish jerk for the first half hour, he is caught in an indiscretion and all his many titles and riches are stripped from him. In a very funny twist of fate, these are all then rewarded to Blaze--who now becomes the trusted adviser to the King! Ultimately, this creates problems, as although Salluste was thoroughly hated by the other nobles, at least he knew the rules--mistreat and over-tax the poor. A group, almost like the 'anti-Three Musketeers' decide that they should stop trying to kill the King and concentrate on Blaze, as now, Blaze is encouraging the King to do insane things like curtail the abuse of the poor (such as the rule that when a nobleman kills one of their servants they now have to at least report it...how unfair!).

This film achieved something difficult--very difficult. While a film can be extremely silly and cartoony, making it ALSO funny is a tough order. It could have just been a stupid film--but was in fact quite clever. If you like this sort of silliness, other than "The VIllain", you might also want to try watching "Start The Revolution Without Me"--an even sillier costume drama that is set in France during the time of the impending French Revolution.

Finally a few observations. It really is Montand doing the singing, as he had a marvelous voice and was actually a very popular pop singer as well as an actor. Also, while some might take offense at or think the many midgets in the king's court was dumb, this actually WAS accurate. During this time, courts often were littered with such small people, as they were a popular fad at the time! Truly a case of the truth being stranger than fiction. And, finally, why did this movie have a spaghetti western style score? Weird.

One of the funniest comedies made for the French cinema was inspired by none other than Victor Hugo's "Ruy Blas". The film served its purpose to delight and amuse, as the unorthodox pairing of Yves Montand, one of the biggest stars in France, and Louis De Funes, a comic genius who is seen at his best in the film, were directed by Gerard Oury. The screenplay was written by Daniele Thompson, the director's daughter, Marcel Julian and Mr. Oury.

The result is a sort of what feels like a French Western filmed mostly in Spain, the locale where many other pictures of the genre were shot. The action involve a corrupt tax collector Don Salluste Bazan and his servant, the rascal Blaze, out to create hell for a master whose only passion is about how much is he going to chisel out from the royal coffers.

"Delusions of Grandeur" is one of the funniest films of that period. The wonderful Yves Montand shows his versatility as Blaze, a resourceful man, whose only purpose in life is to expose his deceitful employer. A sort of Robin Hood, if you will, who gave back to the exploited folks the tribute they were asked to pay the crown. Louis De Funes, a fine comic actor, shows the actor in an inspired role, who in spite of being so mean, manages to make the viewer laughs throughout the movie.

Michel Polnareff's music reminds us of some of Ennio Morricone's compositions for those notorious "Spaghetti Westerns" where he provided the music. Henri Decae takes us all over Spain to show us great scenery as well as fancy interiors as befitting the court of a Spanish painted by Diego Velazquez, perhaps.