Against the background of the remnants of former ethnic strife and typical national characteristics of the British and French, the story of a full bus of drunken French fans in London, one of whom constantly gets into a cycle of trouble - fertile ground for comedy. In Robert Dery, she turned out soft and non-violent, just in the spirit of the sixties. For the main role, he confirmed himself, and in other roles flash not the most recognizable, but good actors, the most memorable of which is the rooster Popol.
No, the ensemble is positively good, but the compositional film requires one star of the level of Louis de Funes in the center, and Robert Dery is not such a star, and can not bear the whole picture on his shoulders. If you bet on the team, then you need to select it more carefully, not forgetting about several charismatic actors, between whom the attention of the viewer will be shared. Here it turned out neither one nor the other – in the end, attention is scattered, and the impression is lubricated, as if “Little Bather”, for example, was filmed without the same Funes in the lead role.
Humor, of course, belongs to the category “above the belt”, which can not but please, but I would like it to be a little thinner in places. This is especially noticeable at the very beginning of the picture, when laughter, presumably, should cause a comic discrepancy between the cheerful voice of the narrator-guide and what we see on the screen actually. It turns out very simple and artless - forgivable rather for the thirties, but not for the sixties. The funniest scenes are associated with the notorious fans on the bus, but they are not enough to offend. But the misadventures of Henri in the form of a policeman at times begin to irritate: he would remove her, and the matter is over. But then, of course, there would be no movie, right?
However, if for a while to abstract from the usual (and, presumably, very evil from the point of view of the 60s) humor of today, then “Forward, France!” is a good comedy and worth watching, at least for informational purposes. A lot of situational jokes and just funny situations, if they do not laugh to the point of colic, then they will definitely make you smile. In addition, Ronald Fraser is quite good in the role of a brave sergeant, and the once popular actress Diana Dors, who plays herself here, to contemplate more than pleasantly - something she even resembles Jane Mansfield. If your childhood fell on those days when in the evenings played comedies with Pierre Richard and other famous French comedians, then you will even be able to catch nostalgia for the old French cinema, which is not bad.