Discover Fernandel’s Final Role in Cinema Over 50 Years Ago in This Dramatic Comedy!

For four decades, his dazzling smile lit up French cinema. With a voice that brought Marcel Pagnol’s prose to life in a distinctive accent, donned the cassock of Don Camillo for Julien Duvivier, and led Henri Verneuil’s cow through the countryside, he made us laugh and cry in equal measure.

Fernandel’s Final Film

Regarded as one of the most iconic and popular actors in the annals of French cinema, Fernandel died in 1971 at the age of 67, leaving behind a legacy of timeless classics just a year after his last film was released.

His final feature film was the 1970 dramatic comedy “Heureux qui comme Ulysse,” directed by Henri Colpi. The title references the first line of a famous poem by Joachim du Velay, as well as a song by Georges Brassens. In the film, Fernandel played Antonin, a farm worker in Provence tasked with taking the horse Ulysse to the bullfights in Arles, but who instead chooses to give his old friend freedom in the vast Camargue.

Almost entirely shot in natural settings, this poignant film marked Fernandel’s last appearance on the big screen. In his final interview with Jean-Paul Seligmann, he discussed yet another project, a sixth and final adventure of Don Camillo, which had to be halted mid-production.

Any More Projects?

In 1972, a year after Fernandel’s death, the Don Camillo project titled “Don Camillo et les contestataires” was eventually restarted by Italian filmmaker Mario Camerini, with Gastone Moschin taking over the lead role.

Besides this last venture in the cassock, Fernandel also had plans to work on another film with Marcel Pagnol.

“He was one of the greatest and most famous actors of our time, comparable only to Charlie Chaplin,” Pagnol remarked following his friend’s death, according to a Vanity Fair article.

What is your favorite movie featuring Fernandel?