The Gendarme gets married: how was the shooting of this film disrupted by the events of May 68?

Released in cinemas in 1968, the movie named The Gendarme is getting marriedrealized by Jean Giraultwill be rebroadcast Sunday, August 21, 2022, from 9:05 p.m. on 6ter. Worn by Louis de Funès, Michael GalabruClaude Gensac and Genevieve Grad, this feature film had a fairly eventful shoot, in particular because of the events of May 68. In fact, shooting began on May 20, 1968 on the scheduled date. The production did not see fit to postpone the shooting, so the country has been agitated and blocked by the strikes and revolts of May 68 for a few weeks, imagining that Saint-Tropez would not be affected, being a city apart, a resort, far from Paris.

Finally, the French cinema community is won over by the national strike movement. In Parisian studios or outside, machinists, technicians and actors join the strike. Technicians from Paris, where all filming stops on May 23, come to convince the team of the Constable is getting married to go on strike. In solidarity with the other strikers, members of the team are gradually withdrawing. Political discussions spill over into working hours, while filming is slowed down. Just like Louis de Funès, the producer of the feature film is hostile to the strike, frightened by the financial losses of a suspension of filming.

The Gendarme gets married: filming suspended for several days by a strike

A meeting to decide on the cessation of filming finally takes place, and the strike is voted. The producer announces to the members of the team that he will no longer pay their expenses and their rentals if they go on strike. Louis de Funès meanwhile threatens not to hire the strikers on his next films. The actor will finally join the strikers on May 24. The strike takes place in a pleasant holiday atmosphere, under the sun. Deprived of housing, part of the team stays in the property of Macha Méril, others for free at the very chic Byblos hotel.

The strikers are alone in an isolated Saint-Tropez, empty of its tourists. The merchants, without customers, sell off their goods to them. The atmosphere deteriorates after several days, in particular because of the loss of earnings for the strikers. A meeting is then organized to decide whether or not to continue the strike. On his side, the producer has threatened to stop paying anyone if the strike continues. The filming of Constable is getting married finally resumes on June 6.

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