Tonight on TV: No Need for Enemies with Friends Like Jacques Brel in This Cult Comedy!

Ralph Milan is tasked with eliminating Louis Randoni, an accidental witness to shady dealings. He checks into a hotel opposite the courthouse where his target will appear. However, in the next room, François Pignon attempts suicide, fails, and causes Milan to miss his mark, much to his frustration…

And that’s just the beginning of his troubles!

Tonight on TF1 Séries Films, ‘L’Emmerdeur’ (The Pain in the Ass) from 1973, directed by Edouard Molinaro (Oscar, Hibernatus), showcases Jacques Brel, a novice actor, and Lino Ventura, a seasoned actor whose reputation precedes him, all in the name of comedy.

The script and dialogue, penned by Francis Veber, are adapted from his own stage play, ‘Le contrat’ (The Contract), performed three years prior by Raymond Gérôme (Milan) and Jean Le Poulain (Pignon), under the direction of Pierre Mondy.

Upon its release on September 19, 1973, ‘L’Emmerdeur’ attracted 3.35 million viewers to theaters, ranking it as the fifth highest-grossing film in the French box office for that year, trailing behind ‘The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob’, ‘My Name is Nobody’, ‘But where is the 7th company?’ and ‘The Big Store’.

Lino Ventura? As “annoying” as Pignon!

In his biography “Let’s Keep This Between Us”, Veber wrote that Lino Ventura was as “annoying as François Pignon. Speaking about Lino Ventura is not easy. He left an unblemished image in collective memory, and challenging it may seem sacrilegious. Yet, I must admit that this extraordinary man could be incredibly annoying.”

Conscious of his image, Ventura objected to several scenes on the grounds that it “wasn’t in his morphology” when he didn’t feel comfortable playing a situation. This led him to turn down certain projects throughout his career, to maintain the pristine image he wished to project.

‘L’Emmerdeur’ was remade in 2008 by Veber, this time starring Richard Berry and Patrick Timsit in the leading roles.

Tonight at 9:10 PM on TF1 Séries Films