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Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes

Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes (The Gendarme and the Gendarmettes) is a 1982 French comedy directed by Jean Girault and Tony Aboyantz, the sixth and final film in the Gendarme series that began with Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez in 1964, and the last screen appearance of Louis de Funès.1 It was released in France on 6 October 1982.2

Key factDetail
Release6 October 1982 in France; distributor SNC2 • 3
DirectorsJean Girault and Tony Aboyantz2
ScreenplayJean Girault, Jacques Vilfrid, and Richard Balducci4
MusicRaymond Lefèvre5
Series positionSixth and final Gendarme film; last screen appearance of Louis de Funès1
Box officeAbout 4.2 million admissions in France, fourth place in the national annual box office5 • 6
RatingsIMDb 6.2/10 (about 9,200 votes); AlloCiné spectators 2.1/5 (about 5,500 notes)7 • 2

Spoilers

Plot

The Saint-Tropez gendarmerie brigade moves into new premises equipped with a computer, which the gendarmes handle with suspicion. The colonel then announces that four young female trainees have been assigned to the brigade, and the gendarmes are to train them in the field. The recruits, Catherine, Marianne, Isabelle, and Yo, arrive, and the male gendarmes compete for their favor. The trainees are then kidnapped and held prisoner on a yacht by a specialist in computer espionage, and the gendarmes must find them.4 • 8 The plot also involves the announced visit of a colonel accompanied by an African head of state who is the father of one of the recruits.9

Cast

Louis de Funès plays Maréchal des Logis-chef Ludovic Cruchot, the role he had held throughout the series. Michel Galabru plays Adjudant Jérôme Gerber, and Claude Gensac plays Josépha Cruchot. The recurring gendarmes are played by Maurice Risch (Beaupied), Guy Grosso (Tricard), Michel Modo (Berlicot), and Patrick Préjean (Perlin); Préjean replaced Jean-Pierre Rambal in the role of Perlin for this film. Jacques François plays the colonel. The four recruits are played by Catherine Serre (Christine Rocourt), Elisabeth Etienne (Marianne Bonnet), Sophie Michaud (Isabelle Leroy), and Nicaise Jean-Louis (Yo Macumba). France Rumilly appears as the Mother Superior, a role she had played in earlier entries of the series.3 • 10 • 11

Production and context

The film was produced by Gérard Beytout for the Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC).5 The Festival International du Film de Fribourg's program notes describe the starting point as the beginning of the feminization of a profession that had been almost exclusively male; the recruits defy the patronizing job title "gendarmette" and outperform their male colleagues.5 The music was composed by Raymond Lefèvre, who had previously scored La Soupe aux choux (1981) and Le Gendarme et les Extra-terrestres (1978), among other films.3

Reported runtimes differ between databases: AlloCiné lists 1h39, Larousse and Apple TV list 1h42, Télé Star and the Fribourg festival list 102 minutes, and the Quebec film classification registry lists 99 minutes.2 • 1 • 4 • 12

Reception

The film was a commercial success. It sold about 4.2 million tickets in France and ranked fourth in the national annual box office, a result the CinéDweller review attributes to the public's loyalty to Louis de Funès, France's most popular star at the time.5 • 6 Critical and audience assessments have been far less favorable. AlloCiné spectators give it 2.1 out of 5, and a 1982 Le Monde review noted that the gendarmettes, in uniform and blue heels and victimized by sinister spies, prove that women also have resource.2 • 13 Later commentary has criticized the film's dated humor, with reviewers describing gags it calls machiste and racist, while some spectators note that the recruits are shown as capable of getting themselves out of difficult situations without waiting to be rescued.6 • 11

Significance as a final film

The film closes the Gendarme franchise and marks the end of two careers. Louis de Funès died on 23 January 1983 at the age of 68, a few months after the release, making this his final screen appearance.1 • 6 Director Jean Girault, who had directed the entire series from Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez (1964) onward, died in 1982, the year of the film's release.14 The film remains available for rental on French streaming services such as Canal VOD, Apple TV Store, and Rakuten TV.15

References

  1. Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes, Larousse, Dictionnaire mondial des films
  2. Le gendarme et les gendarmettes, Film 1982, AlloCiné
  3. Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes : séances à Paris, L'Officiel des spectacles
  4. Le gendarme et les gendarmettes, Film 1982, Télé Star
  5. Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes, Festival International du Film de Fribourg
  6. Le gendarme et les gendarmettes : la critique du film, CinéDweller
  7. The Gendarme and the Gendarmettes (1982) – Ratings, IMDb
  8. Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes, SensCritique
  9. Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes, Apple TV
  10. Le gendarme et les gendarmettes (1982), Cinéfil
  11. Dernières critiques du film Le gendarme et les gendarmettes, AlloCiné
  12. Le gendarme et les gendarmettes, Répertoire des films classés, Québec
  13. Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes de Jean Girault, Le Monde (15 October 1982)
  14. Girault (1924-1982), data.bnf.fr
  15. Regarder Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes en streaming, JustWatch

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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