Les Morfalous
Encyclopedia
Les Morfalous is a 1984 action
-comedy
French film, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo
and directed by Henri Verneuil
, featuring the French Foreign Legion
during the Second World War.
, during the Second World War, a convoy of the French Foreign Legion
is charged to recover gold bars of six billion franc
s from a bank in El Ksour
in order to bring them into a safe place for the French government.
The 4 April 1943, the Foreign Legion enters the town of El Ksour which is partially destroyed. A German platoon, who holds the town, ambush the FFL convoy and kill most of them. Only 5 légionnaires survive the attack and take refuge in a hotel in ruins. At night, Légionnaire Borzik is killed while trying to bring weapons and ammunitions back to the rest of the team.
The 4 remaining légionnaires find the corpulent and pusillanimous artilleryman Beral sitting in the toilets, suffering from dysentery
. However, with his brave assistance, Sergent Augagneur will be able to use an abandoned French cannon
to kill or drive out the Germans.
The bank manager and his seductive wife arrive. The legionnaires arrest an Afrika Korps
lieutenant.
Gold feverish Sergent
Augagneur wants to share the gold between the four légionnaires and start to fight with Adjudant Mahuzard who wants to accomplish the mission.
Trying to steal the gold bars by heading South with a tank, Sergent Augagneur runs in an entire French army, marching North, and successfully pretends he was looking for them to give the gold bars back. Sergent Augagneur is finally awarded with the Légion d'Honneur
for this action.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
-comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
French film, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.-Career:Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football."Did you box professionally very long?" "Not very long...
and directed by Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who enjoyed a successful career in France.-Biography:...
, featuring the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
during the Second World War.
Plot
In French TunisiaTunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, during the Second World War, a convoy of the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
is charged to recover gold bars of six billion franc
Franc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s from a bank in El Ksour
El Ksour
El Ksour is a town and commune in the Kef Governorate, Tunisia. As of 2004 it had a population of 5,357....
in order to bring them into a safe place for the French government.
The 4 April 1943, the Foreign Legion enters the town of El Ksour which is partially destroyed. A German platoon, who holds the town, ambush the FFL convoy and kill most of them. Only 5 légionnaires survive the attack and take refuge in a hotel in ruins. At night, Légionnaire Borzik is killed while trying to bring weapons and ammunitions back to the rest of the team.
The 4 remaining légionnaires find the corpulent and pusillanimous artilleryman Beral sitting in the toilets, suffering from dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
. However, with his brave assistance, Sergent Augagneur will be able to use an abandoned French cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
to kill or drive out the Germans.
The bank manager and his seductive wife arrive. The legionnaires arrest an Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
lieutenant.
Gold feverish Sergent
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Augagneur wants to share the gold between the four légionnaires and start to fight with Adjudant Mahuzard who wants to accomplish the mission.
Trying to steal the gold bars by heading South with a tank, Sergent Augagneur runs in an entire French army, marching North, and successfully pretends he was looking for them to give the gold bars back. Sergent Augagneur is finally awarded with the Légion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
for this action.
Cast
- Jean-Paul BelmondoJean-Paul BelmondoJean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.-Career:Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football."Did you box professionally very long?" "Not very long...
(Sergent Pierre Augagneur) - Michel ConstantinMichel ConstantinMichel Constantin was a French film actor.-Biography:Born to a Russian father and a Polish mother in Billancourt , Constantin made his first film appearance in 1956. His first credited role was in the prison breakout drama Le Trou in 1960.-External links:...
(Adjudant Edouard Mahuzard) - Marie LaforêtMarie LaforêtMarie Laforêt is a French singer and actress, .In 1978 she moved to Geneva, Switzerland and took out Swiss nationality.-The sources of her birth name:...
(Hélène de La Roche Freon) - Michel CretonMichel CretonMichel Creton is a French actor.He came to international attention with the release of Un homme de trop by Costa Gavras in 1967...
(Légionnaire Boissier) - Jacques VilleretJacques VilleretJacques Villeret was a French actor.-Early life and Family:Born Jacky Boufroura in Loches, Indre-et-Loire, France, to an Algerian father and a French mother, he is most famous internationally for his role as François Pignon in Le Dîner de Cons, both on the stage and in the later film...
(Brigadier Beral) - François Perrot (François de La Roche Freon)
- Pierre Semmler (Capitaine Ulrich Dieterle)
- Maurice Auzel (Légionnaire Borzik)