The new tour of the Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum of Saint-Tropez takes you back to the 1960s and behind the scenes of Jean Girault’s film.
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Jean Lefèbvre, Michel Galabru and of course Louis de Funès: visitors, even the youngest, know all the characters in the saga of Gendarme of Saint-Tropez. Because if the film was released in 1964, just 60 years ago, laughter is passed down from generation to generation. On the occasion of this anniversary, the Museum of Gendarmerie and Cinema of Saint-Tropez is offering a fun exhibition until March 2025 with the very evocative title of Take care of yourself ! “We always laugh, even the children love it, it’s a phenomenon that spans the ages,” assures a father visiting with his two boys. “We will never forget Louis de Funès”, confide two visitors.
The exhibition takes you back to the 1960s and behind the scenes of Jean Girault’s film. On the program, sets, costumes and posters for the film, not forgetting a replica of the first red Ford Mustang featured in the first part of the comic series. It is indeed in The Gendarme of Saint-Tropez that this model made its first appearance in French cinema in 1964. The museum can also count on a large collection of uniforms and caps, without forgetting a period reconstruction of the office of the quartermaster Cruchot.
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Exhibition “Attention!” at the Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum in Saint-Tropez.
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(FRANCE 3 COTE D’AZUR / M. Falaizeau / A. Dequidt / K. Schmid)
At the end of the stroll, fans of the film can test their culture by spinning a special “Louisdefunesque” wheel. The exhibition also reveals the Victoire du cinéma (the ancestor of the Césars) that Louis de Funès received on October 29, 1965, for his role as Ludovic Cruchot in The Gendarme of Saint-Tropez. A role that will truly launch his career even though he is already around fifty years old.
Because if the actor already had 100 films behind him, it is in this role that many remember him. A success for an actor who aimed to make people laugh: “It’s a wonderful gift to make others laugh“, he said. This exhibition also celebrates the 110th anniversary of his birth.
Eight million spectators in theaters for the first opus
The adventures of Saint-Tropez police with Louis de Funès, he is the Proust madeleine of many French people. The first opus of the saga, released in 1964, attracted nearly 8 million spectators in theaters. Five other films will be released and will keep the public in suspense until 1982. Very French comedies which left their mark with their unforgettable blundering and slack-jawed agents. At the forefront of the taunts, the chief quartermaster Ludovic Cruchot played by Louis de Funès. “The gendarme with his kepi who runs after the slightest offense is a fairly mythical image of Epinal”, reports a visitor.
A cult film which put a big spotlight on the fishing village of the Côte d’Azur. Opened in 2016, the museum has already welcomed more than a million curious visitors from all over the world. “The Gendarme has made it possible to have an international image where we discover the magnificent views of the village”, assures Michel Perrault, the cultural assistant of Saint-Tropez.
The exhibition “Attention to you ” is open every day from the 13th April to 30 June and 1st September to 9 March 2025 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From the 1st July to 31 August 2024 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Single price: 5 euros.