Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard ('How to Succeed When You're a Jerk and a Crybaby') is a French comedy film directed by Michel Audiard, released in 1974. It is notable as the first film with the actor Jean-Claude Dreyfus. Audiard appears in the film as a nurse.
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Plot
In Paris, Antoine lives modestly with his sour old mother and sells cases of fake vermouth to owners of little bars, his ploy being to win their sympathy, particularly the wives. Telling tales of his sad life, he recites fake Baudelaire poetry and ends with the burial of his beloved mother. He wins the sympathy of Marie-Josée, a hotel employee who is the mistress of Gérard, the manager. He wins the sympathy of Jane, a stripper who lives with Foisnard, a pianist. After sending Jane and Gérard off touring in a double act, he wins the sympathy of Gérard's wife Cécile and moves into her country house, spending his days as manager of Gérard's hotel, where he enjoys the favours of Marie-Josée. As everybody comes to realise how he has manipulated them, the game ends and he is back with his mother, planning a campaign to unload more vermouth.
Technical data
Director : Michel Audiard
Screenplay : Michel Audiard and Jean-Marie Poiré
Duration : 90 minutes
Release date : 19 June 1974
Language: French
Cast
Jean Carmet : Antoine Robineau
Jean-Pierre Marielle : Gérard Malempin
Stéphane Audran : Cécile Malempin
Jane Birkin : Jane
Evelyne Buyle : Marie-Josée Mulot
Jean Rochefort : Foisnard
Daniel Prévost : Carducci
Jeanne Herviale : Robineau's mother
Robert Dalban : Léonce
Jacqueline Doyen : Madame Léonce
Jean-Claude Dreyfus : The transformist
Ginette Garcin : The head nurse
Minka : The surly nurse
Michel Audiard : The male nurse
Laurence Badie : The hotel attendant
Paul Bisciglia : The hunter
Féodor Atkine : The mime
Manu Pluton : The black
Sébastien Floche : Marcel