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The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe

PG 1972 1h 30m Comedy Mystery & Thriller List
67% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Desperate to protect his job from a bureaucratic rival, the head of the French secret service (Jean Rochefort) picks outs a stranger, François Perrin (Pierre Richard), from a Paris crowd and singles him out as a master spy who should be tracked very closely. In reality, François is an amiable, if clumsy, classical violinist whose complete obliviousness to the agents watching him only further convinces them that they have a major undercover operative in their sights.

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Jay Cocks TIME Magazine Just about as witty and well-turned as its title. Mar 18, 2020 Full Review Roger Greenspun New York Times Well, it isn't comedy of the highest order, but most of it is thoroughly winning. May 9, 2005 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Tall Blond Man is just too relaxed, too confident of its own cool; comedy has to take more risks than this one does. Rated: 2.5/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Meagerly amusing, if thanks to several scenarios genuinely funny in their brevity, The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe is worth a look, but like several of its scenarios, the mere idea of its existence is more entertaining than the actuality. Rated: 2.5/5 Oct 27, 2020 Full Review Sean Axmaker Seanax.com ... takes an idea out of Hitchcock's North by Northwest-an innocent man is mistaken for a government agent and targeted by the enemy-and gives it cynical twist and a comic treatment closer to the Pink Panther films. May 22, 2016 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 4, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (33) audience reviews
Mikael Z I thoroughly enjoyed it, even with some rough edges here and there. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/24 Full Review Mark V This movie is a farce as only the French can produce. It has so many scenes that are just absurd and hilarious, but everything fits together magnificently, making plausible what would otherwise be completely implausible. Christine's gown is a stunner. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/27/23 Full Review Kupferman J Old movie but not old fashioned at all, it was sharp and funny! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Showed me the value of foreign films in my formative years, not just for heavy-duty serious stuff. SO so funny. Mel Brooks and Monty Python and take on James Bond and Harry Palmer. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review michael d One of the best comedies ever made. I recommend seeing it in French (with subtitles if you're not fluent in French). A lot of the comedy is visual, but there are also subtle inflections in the dialog that don't carry through in the dubbed version. The American remake with Tom Hanks is okay, but doesn't hold a candle to the original. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Subtle and broad humor combined beautifully! Even the score is spot on all the way through. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Desperate to protect his job from a bureaucratic rival, the head of the French secret service (Jean Rochefort) picks outs a stranger, François Perrin (Pierre Richard), from a Paris crowd and singles him out as a master spy who should be tracked very closely. In reality, François is an amiable, if clumsy, classical violinist whose complete obliviousness to the agents watching him only further convinces them that they have a major undercover operative in their sights.
Director
Yves Robert
Producer
Alain Poiré, Yves Robert
Screenwriter
Yves Robert, Francis Veber
Production Co
Gaumont, Madeleine Films, Les Productions de la Guéville
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Runtime
1h 30m