# Le Gendarme se marie
*Le Gendarme se marie* is a 1968 French comedy directed by Jean Girault, the third film in the *Gendarme* series starring [Louis de Funès](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-de-funes) as the gendarme Ludovic Cruchot, in which Cruchot falls in love with Josépha, the widow of a gendarmerie colonel played by Claude Gensac.[1](https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/film/Le_gendarme_se_marie/4683) • [2](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D36761.html) It was released in France on 30 October 1968, runs 1 hour 32 minutes, and was a France-Italy co-production.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D36761.html) • [3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52319.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 30 October 1968 in French cinemas; 1 h 32 min; comedy[2](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D36761.html) |
| Series position | Third film of the *Gendarme* series begun with *Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez* (1964)[1](https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/film/Le_gendarme_se_marie/4683) • [4](https://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/gendinfo/histoire/pandore-en-technicolor-l-histoire-des-gendarmes-au-cinema) |
| Lead roles | Louis de Funès (Ludovic Cruchot), Claude Gensac (Josépha), Michel Galabru (Adjudant Gerber), Geneviève Grad (Nicole Cruchot)[2](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D36761.html) |
| Production | SNC (Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie) with Medusa (Rome) and T.C. Productions (Paris); original distributor SNC[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52319.html) |
| Key crew | Screenplay Jean Girault and Jacques Vilfrid from an idea by Richard Balducci; music Raymond Lefebvre; cinematography Marcel Grignon; sets Sydney Bettex[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52319.html) • [5](https://cinema-francais.fr/film/le-gendarme-se-marie-1968) |
| French box office | 6,828,626 admissions in France, of which 1,262,569 in Paris and the suburbs[6](https://cinedweller.com/movie/le-gendarme-se-marie-la-critique-du-film/) |
| Filming location | Saint-Tropez (Var), including beach scenes covered by an ORTF regional news report broadcast 1 May 1968[5](https://cinema-francais.fr/film/le-gendarme-se-marie-1968) • [7](https://catalogue.ina.fr/doc/TV-RADIO/RE_RAF08050739/tournage-du-film-quot-le-gendarme-se-marie-quot) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
During the summer season, the brigade of [Saint-Tropez](https://www.edgepedia.org/saint-tropez) hunts down reckless drivers. At a turbulent roadside check, following an accident, Maréchal des logis-chef Cruchot meets Josépha Lefrançois, the elegant widow of a gendarmerie colonel, and falls in love at first sight.[8](https://cineavis.com/film.php?id=4729) • [2](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D36761.html) Josépha, a woman of strong character, upends Cruchot's settled bachelor routine: she pushes him to prepare the examination for promotion to adjudant-chef, to the dismay of Adjudant Gerber, who is also seeking advancement.[8](https://cineavis.com/film.php?id=4729) Cruchot takes dance lessons at the Byblos hotel, shaves twice a day, and watches programs aimed at housewives, all pretexts for comic scenes; he does not forget his vocation, however, and along the way arrests a dangerous swindler.[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52319.html) • [5](https://cinema-francais.fr/film/le-gendarme-se-marie-1968) His daughter Nicole, who does not want a new stepmother, and Gerber, who has his own designs on Josépha, both place obstacles in his path.[9](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-36761/critiques/spectateurs/)
## Place in the series
Louis de Funès had inaugurated the *Gendarme de Saint-Tropez* series in 1964. Despite initial hostility from the gendarmerie institution, which was reluctant to see itself caricatured, the popular success of the first film led the direction of the force to support the project, which continued with *Le Gendarme à New York* (1965), *Le Gendarme se marie* (1968), *Le Gendarme en balade* (1970), *Le Gendarme et les Extra-terrestres* (1979), and *[Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-gendarme-et-les-gendarmettes)* (1982).[4](https://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/gendinfo/histoire/pandore-en-technicolor-l-histoire-des-gendarmes-au-cinema)
**A change of tone.** The Cinémathèque française notes that this third episode, written for and around Louis de Funès by Girault and his screenwriter Jacques Vilfrid, shifts the emphasis from the ensemble comedy of the first two films to romance. Claude Gensac, described by the Cinémathèque as de Funès's eternal screen wife, brings a note of female rebellion alongside Geneviève Grad, and the couple's gags and chases follow the burlesque tradition.[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52319.html)
## Reception and box office
The film drew 6,828,626 spectators in France, including 1,262,569 in Paris and the surrounding region.[6](https://cinedweller.com/movie/le-gendarme-se-marie-la-critique-du-film/) Sources differ on its exact 1968 ranking: the Cinémathèque française states that it placed first in its category at the box office of the year,[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52319.html) while CinéDweller calls it the second-biggest success of 1968 at the national box office, just behind Disney's *Le Livre de la jungle*.[6](https://cinedweller.com/movie/le-gendarme-se-marie-la-critique-du-film/) A Warwick thesis on French cinema records that it had the best French box office of 1968 and was rather well received by the critic of *L'Humanité*, Samuel Lachize, who praised "the craftsmanship of a director who does not betray his public"; Louis Chauvet in *Le Figaro* defended traditional entertainers against auteur cinema, asking whether de Funès's funny faces were not worth [Jerry Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-lewis)'s.[10](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3061/1/WRAP_THESIS_Marie_2000.pdf)
**A behind-the-scenes quarrel.** The release was clouded by a polemic between Jean Lefebvre, who played Fougasse, and Louis de Funès: Lefebvre accused de Funès of imposing cuts that reduced his screen time, the starting point of a falling-out between the two actors; Girault responded, and a reconciliation followed.[6](https://cinedweller.com/movie/le-gendarme-se-marie-la-critique-du-film/) • [11](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/titles/4612/le-gendarme-se-marie)
On AlloCiné the film holds a spectator rating of 2.8 out of 5 from more than 5,600 votes, with recent reviews divided between those who find it the high point of the series, praising the chemistry between de Funès, Gensac, and Galabru and Raymond Lefebvre's score, and those who find the gendarmes' roles reduced relative to the earlier films.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D36761.html) • [9](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-36761/critiques/spectateurs/) The film was re-released in French cinemas in 1973 and 1979.[11](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/titles/4612/le-gendarme-se-marie)
## References
1. [Le gendarme se marie, Larousse, Dictionnaire mondial des films](https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/film/Le_gendarme_se_marie/4683)
2. [Le Gendarme se marie (1968), AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D36761.html)
3. [Le Gendarme se marie (Jean Girault, 1968), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52319.html)
4. [Pandore en technicolor, l'histoire des gendarmes au cinéma, Gendinfo, Gendarmerie nationale](https://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/gendinfo/histoire/pandore-en-technicolor-l-histoire-des-gendarmes-au-cinema)
5. [Le Gendarme se marie (1968), cinema-francais.fr](https://cinema-francais.fr/film/le-gendarme-se-marie-1968)
6. [Le gendarme se marie : la critique du film, CinéDweller](https://cinedweller.com/movie/le-gendarme-se-marie-la-critique-du-film/)
7. [Tournage du film "Le Gendarme se marie", INA catalogue (Côte d'Azur Actualités, 1 May 1968)](https://catalogue.ina.fr/doc/TV-RADIO/RE_RAF08050739/tournage-du-film-quot-le-gendarme-se-marie-quot)
8. [Le Gendarme se marie (1968), CinéAvis](https://cineavis.com/film.php?id=4729)
9. [Critique du film Le Gendarme se marie, AlloCiné spectateurs](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-36761/critiques/spectateurs/)
10. [Marie, M. (2000), thesis on French cinema criticism, University of Warwick](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3061/1/WRAP_THESIS_Marie_2000.pdf)
11. [Le Gendarme se marie (1968), NR Magazine](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/titles/4612/le-gendarme-se-marie)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Teen and comedy series film entries › Entries released before 1990*
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