Among Louis de Funès' biggest successes, we find The gendarme in New York directed by Jean-Girault. The second part of the lucrative adventures of Marshal Ludovic Cruchot, the film met a resounding success upon its release in 1965. he made approximately 5.5 million admissions worldwide, placing itself behind The gendarme of Saint-Tropez (8 million) and The Gendarme gets married (7 million). The film traces the trip to New York of the Saint-Tropez gendarmerie brigade, during an international gendarmerie congress.
If Louis de Funès, the interpreter of Ludovic Cruchot, quickly became one of the favorite actors of the French, he also experienced conflicting relationships with his partners on the set. He notably had an argument with Jean Lefebvre, well known to spectators for his participation in Uncle Flingueurs. Indeed, Louis de Funès did not support Jean Lefebvre's sudden notoriety. The actor then did everything to reduce his presence in Constable in New York.
Jean Lefebvre accuses Louis de Funès in the media
When the film was released The constable gets married in 1968, the quarrel intensified between the two headliners. Jean Lefebvre was not satisfied with the result when he saw that certain scenes in which he appeared disappeared during the final editing. In the media, he then accuses Louis de Funès of being responsible for it. Subsequently, he will even reap a reprimand from filmmaker Jean Girault who describes his attitude as "poor" and deals with "highest paid in the world" in a free space for everyday life Paris-Jour. If the two men stayed cold for several years, they finally crossed by chance …
In his autobiography, Why does this only happen to me?, Jean Lefebvre had returned to his falling out with Louis de Funès. "I only saw Funès again once, years later, in a cocktail party. He was there, with his wife, and he watched me from a distance, without saying anything. I went to him and forced him to greet me ", he explained. And to continue: "His wife refused to reach out to me. So I forced the explanation, because it seemed to me that I had to solve this problem once and for all." Listen, Louis, when I attacked you publicly, I was mad with anger. I was starting to have a small name and by arbitrarily suppressing my scenes, you did me harm. It seems to me that the least of things would have been to warn me, to have the courage to warn me ". (…) De Funès kept silent for a few moments, then he got up." You right, "he told me," he said.
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