SYNOPSICS
That Riviera Touch (1966) is a English movie. Cliff Owen has directed this movie. Eric Morecambe,Ernie Wise,Suzanne Lloyd,Paul Stassino are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1966. That Riviera Touch (1966) is considered one of the best Comedy movie in India and around the world.
After a mix-up with a member of the Royal Family, traffic wardens Eric and Ernie decide to take a holiday to the South Of France. However, when they arrive there, they find themselves caught up in the plot of Le Pirate who has stolen a collection of valuable jewels and plans to use Eric and Ernie to smuggle the collection out of France. He lures them to an old villa filled with traps and uses Claudette, another member of the gang, to keep Eric and Ernie busy. However, other jewel thieves are after the jewels and Eric continues to find their bodies in the villa just before it disappears. However, while they fight over the love of Claudette, Eric and Ernie begin to wonder just what is going on, and begin to investigate. As to Claudette, whose side is she on...?
More
That Riviera Touch (1966) Reviews
Great stuff from Eric and Ernie
Maybe you have to be a Morecambe and Wise fan like me, but I loved this film so much. The comic duo find themselves in the midst of a jewel theft and a beautiful woman, Claudette. One of the most entertaining scenes in this film is when Morecambe accidentally wins a massive amount of money at a casino. Gags are plenty in this film, but occasionally, when Morecambe and Wise aren't on the screen, it gets ever so slightly over-serious. But this is just one tinsey handicap of a very funny film. If you get bored with Morecambe and Wise (not very likely) then you can enjoy the beautiful French Riviera scenery (the film was actually filmed there). Enjoy! 9/10
Almost a total waste of the talented double act
Having accidentally given a parking ticket to the Queen, traffic wardens Eric and Ernie decide that it is a good time to get away for a while and decide to take a holiday in the south of France. Arriving at the airport, the two are unwittingly selected by a gang of criminals to be used as patsies in a daring robbery of valuable jewels. The gang plan to hide the jewels on the pairs' car to get them out of the country unsuspected. With the gang guiding their every move, Eric and Ernie are seemingly unaware of the situation they find themselves in. In the UK as with the US, small screen comedians will inevitably be given a shot at big screen success and forty odd years ago was no different, with Morecambe and Wise being given several bites at the cherry of which this film was the second. As with all their films, the material is just not up to scratch either in terms of plotting or in terms of laughs. The plot sees them involved in a crime caper but it is so badly handled that you never really care about what is happening or who is doing what to whom. This wouldn't have been a major problem if the film had been funny enough to cover it but it really isn't. There are few funny routines and mostly the film just seems to have a very basic script that relies on the abilities of its stars to make something out of nothing. Of course when you are talking about Morecambe and Wise then it is rare that they will do nothing right and thus they manage to get some laughs even with little or no help from the material. Morecambe was always the funniest of the pair and he brings his stage personae to this film really well he is responsible for poor material being funny and although this is miles away from their best, he and Ern deserve praise for preventing this being awful. Wise enjoys himself and gets laughs, showing that he is not just a straight man; he even gets to sing something that Eric would never have let him get away with on the small screen! The support cast are all pretty poor, with none making an impression but I suppose the focus is on the stars. Overall this is a poor film and is not the place to come to experience M&W at their best in fact all of their films should be ignored if this is what you are looking for. The material is poor and the film is not very funny at all and it is only the talent of Eric and Ernie that prevent it from being a total waste of time.
Great Movie
I saw this movie many years ago and it has remained my favourite comedy to this day, the two main characters of the movie are Eric and Ernie, great British comedians of their day. Eric can make me laugh just by looking at him. This movie is a classic and is well worth watching. Filmed on the Riviera, as the title infers, one funny thing after another befalls the pair, in the spy-like way of James Bond etc. Great fun non stop laughter,
Not bad,but the best was yet to come
Of the three films Morecambe and Wise made in the mid-1960's,THAT RIVIERA TOUCH was perhaps the best,though as the cliché goes,it isn't saying that much.Eric and Ernie's brand of humour was never particularly suited towards plot or narrative (the crosstalk/sketch format seemed to accommodate them far more),and the story here (about jewel thieves on the French Riviera) is wispy and fluffy to the point of irrelevance. What saves the film from total mediocrity is the location filming on the French Riviera itself (pleasantly photographed by the veteran Otto Heller),the inclusion of a capable comedy director (Cliff Owen),and occasionally some decent comic material which is just about good enough to take the mind off the mundane plot.Eric and Ern manage to produce some very funny moments despite some considerable flaws surrounding them;the supporting actors (predominately mainland European types) are mostly forgettable and contribute very little that is of note,and the climactic surfboard chase is reasonably well-staged,though is made less effective by some obvious back projection. Despite this,Morecambe and Wise come across as two very likable innocents abroad,and although the prosaic storyline,script and related characters interfere too often,there's still enough amusing bits of business (particularly during and after Eric wins a fortune,purely by accident,at a roulette table) to ensure at least total indifference never sets in. That said,there is still a feeling of disappointment with THAT RIVIERA TOUCH,and Morecambe and Wise would soon find their proper comedic mode with their glorious BBC TV shows of the 1970's,where they were not distracted by plots,scripts or supporting characters that overtly inhibited them;THAT RIVIERA TOUCH only suggests in moments how truly great they could be,and indeed they did become,via (for them) the less constrained medium of television. RATING:6 out of 10.
Same plot as Dumb and Dumber
2 idiots find themselves cought up criminals while both trying to win the love of a lady. Hmmm very similar plot to Dumb and Dumber. Someone should be hung, drawn and quartered for this. I want vengeance.