Louis de Funès and his brigade rediscover themselves at the Museum of the Gendarmerie and Cinema

It is the Proust madeleine of many French people: the adventures of the gendarmes of Saint-Tropez with Louis de Funès. Six films released between 1964 and 1982 that marked the spirits with its unforgettable blundering and shirking agents. To plunge back into the universe, the Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum explores theœwork of Jean Girault, thanks to a collection of objects recovered during the filming of the comedies.

Like a Citroën 2CV model, star of a mystical movie scene The gendarme and the gendarmettes where the vehicle breaks apart during a chase. “We watched it with my cousins. I remember the sequence where the car driven by a nun is cut off in two”, recalls a visitor.

Fans will not fail to recognize the building with the yellow facade which houses the museum, this former gendarmerie of Saint-Tropez served as the setting for the adventures of Ludovic Cruchot, chief sergeant. Its screenwriter Richard Balducci would have found inspiration there to create his brigade of broken arms. One day when his camera is stolen, he goes to the city barracks for lunch to file a complaint. “The gendarme asks him if he is sure he wants to file a complaint now, the director insists and the officer tells him that he already knows who the thief is. He missed it by 15 yards last week”, explains Laurence Durieux, director of the museum. An incredible situation that the writer then wanted to bring to the screen alongside Jean Girault.

Through the galleries, visitors will also discover the daily life of the gendarmes in the 1960s. The museum can also count on a large collection of uniforms and kepis, not to mention a period reconstruction of the officers’ office. To end on a high note, a retrospective of Saint-Tropez in the 1950s retraces the prestigious festivals and the attraction of film celebrities and art for the seaside resort.

Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum, 2 place Blanqui, Saint-Tropez, 5 euros.