The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob

Original title: Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob

1973
U
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

15K

YOUR RATING

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973)

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Slapstick Adventure Comedy

A bigoted Frenchman finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins - and the police.A bigoted Frenchman finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins - and the police.A bigoted Frenchman finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins - and the police.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

15K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Trivia
The movie was released on October 18th 1973, during Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab countries. That very day, the press attaché's wife hijacked a plane to prevent the movie from being released, claiming that the movie was pro-Israeli. She eventually was shot by police marksmen.

Goofs
Fares and his thugs are not really speaking Arabic but mumbling something instead.

Quotes
Mohamed Larbi Slimane: The revolution is like a bicycle, when it stops it falls.

Alternate versions
In the english dubbed version, the last line is changed From, "That's alright sir, we'll take you anyway" to "That's alright sir, nobody's Perfect". Then in the ending credits, they thank Billy Wilder for the last line, which is a steal from the last line from "Some Like It Hot".

Connections
Featured in Louis de Funès ou Le pouvoir de faire rire (2003)

User reviews50

Featured review

9/10

A relationship of a life time

I first saw this when I was a kid on its first US release back in the early 1970's. I laughed to kill myself and thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.

The quest to see the movie again over the last 30 years has been a labor of love. I don't think it ever aired on New York TV and its showings on cable can be counted on one hand. I was lucky enough to see it a a local revival theater a few years ago before it completely disappeared. Thanks to E-Bay I recently picked up a VHS copy and now comes word that a US release on DVD is moments away. Life couldn't be better.

The one thing the handful of viewings of the film has taught me is that the movie plays differently every time I see it. Depending on mood it I may find it to be one of the funniest or one of the most charming films movies ever made. Some sequences in one viewing will leave me gasping for breath while other times it will simply make me smile. No matter though I've enjoyed it each time I've watched it.

The story of a bigot who gets way laid and ends up on the run all over France only to end up posing as a beloved Rabbi, is ripe with comic potential most of which is put to good use. Also put to good use are some twists that no rational person would come up with, but which work in the context of a wild comedy, the bubble gum factory for example.

This is a wonderful life affirming story that makes you laugh until you cry while showing that ultimately we are all the same. Which is kind of tragic in view of the films opening shots which are some of the earliest film footage shot at the World Trade Center, which had just opened.

If you like to laugh see this movie, its wonderful.