That Riviera Touch

Dir: Cliff Owen

1966

****

Legendary comedy duo Morecambe and Wise follow up their previous year’s hit ‘The Intelligence Men’ with ‘That Riviera Touch’, which sees the pair unwittingly involved with an international jewel thief. Their characters are not the same as in ‘The Intelligence Men’ and neither ‘That Riviera Touch’ nor 1967’s ‘The Magnificent Two’ are sequels. The themes (two friends accidentally getting into trouble with varying levels of high jinks) are similar and so are they. The comedy pair keep their real names and for all intents and purposes Eric and Ernie are themselves, or at least, the stage version of themselves that we love, just taken out of their regular format. Once again, the transition from small screen to big screen is fairly painless, Morecambe and Wise were entertainers who could do it all, whether it be TV, film, singing or dancing but what really helps them transcend into film is the fact that they can engage the audience without addressing them and they were masters of physical comedy. The film starts in typical Eric and Ernie fashion when Eric, a traffic warden, nearly gives Her Majesty the Queen a parking ticket. Ernie persuades him that this might be an opportune time to leave the country and take a relaxing holiday to the Riviera. When they arrive however, they come to the attention of an international jewel thief known as Le Pirate (played by Paul Stassino who was the barman that handed John Mills his beer in that infamous scene at the end of ice Cold in Alex). Le Pirate decides to use the pair to smuggle precious jewels out of the country and sends them to a sinister villa along with the beautiful Claudette (played by Suzanne Lloyd), a member of his criminal gang, to keep Eric and Ernie occupied while he carries out the various stages of his plan. Confusion ensues however, as the two battle for the affections of Claudette and Eric accidentally wins a large sum of money at a casino. Eventually Eric and Ernie start to get suspicious and begin to investigate and comedy and calamity follow suit towards the film’s raucous conclusion. In all honesty, it is a strong jewel heist movie in its own right with or without the comedy, although it is definitely better with the comedy. Eric and Ernie are on fine form, the critics did not like it but the public did, making it one of the most popular films at the British Box office in 1966.