Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a charming police comedy with Philippe Noiret and Annie Girardot.
Lise Tanquerelle, city commissioner, meets Antoine Lemercier, an old school acquaintance, by chance the day she hits him with her car. He imposes himself in her eventful life, because Lise investigates the serial murders of several deputies. She discovers that they all frequented the same call girl…
This pitch is that of the charming police comedy Tender Chicken, released in theaters in 1978. Directed by Philippe de Broca, master of popular entertainment to whom we owe the classics The Magnificent and The Man from Rio, along footage should definitely give you a great relaxing evening.
If Tender Chicken is a great success and if we absolutely must rediscover this little nugget of comedy that has unfairly fallen into oblivion, it is in particular thanks to its formidable duo of actors. Annie Girardot is brilliant in the role of a commissioner full of dynamism and humanity, and the alchemy works perfectly with Philippe Noiret as a more calm man who seems to be the complete opposite…
Both a police investigation and a romance, this comedy which attracted nearly 1.8 million spectators in theaters is also worth for its chiseled dialogues signed by the great Michel Audiard, to whom we owe in particular the unforgettable lines of Les Tontons gunslingers. Also worth noting is the excellent music composed by George Delerue.
Finally, we should note that Tender Chicken, which features the late Guy Marchand in its credits, was given a sequel. We stole Jupiter’s thigh, released in 1980, brings together the same charming duo with an action that takes place, no longer in Paris, but in Greece.
Tonight on Arte at 8:55 p.m.
The trailer for “We stole Jupiter’s thigh”, the sequel to “Tender Chicken”: