Many French comedies translate well

For decades, Hollywood has looked to world cinema for films that are ripe to be refashioned for American audiences. Sometimes the results are terrific — “The Departed,” Martin Scorsese’s 2006 remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film “Infernal Affairs,” took home not only the best picture Oscar but also finally earned the filmmaker an arguably long overdue director statuette. Often, though, English-language remakes are simply poor facsimiles of the original — case in point, Guy Ritchie’s painful 2002 remake of Lina Wertmuller’s 1974 film, “Swept Away,” starring his then-wife, Madonna.

French cinema seems to be an especially tempting target, with remake rights frequently snapped up before a film hits the stateside art house circuit. The new Steve Carell- Paul Rudd comedy “Dinner With Schmucks,” opening Friday, is the latest film “inspired” by a French hit — in this case Francis Veber’s darkly comic 1999 U.S. release “The Dinner Game,” based on his popular play.

Though the verdict is still out as to whether “Dinner With Schmucks” will serve up the laughs for American audiences, here is a look at five wonderful French films that found new life the second time around — and five that would have fared better remaining solely on Gallic shores.

C’est magnifique

“Boudu Saved From Drowning” (1932) / “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (1986) One of director Jean Renoir’s most accomplished early works, “Boudu Saved From Drowning” offers a funny, biting look at the French bourgeoisie with Michel Simon playing a tramp rescued by a middle-class book seller after he takes a suicidal leap into the Seine. Though Paul Mazursky’s “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” lacks the savage social critique of the original, it’s a fun romp. Nick Nolte plays a suicidal hobo taken in by a dysfunctional wealthy Beverly Hills family headed by Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfuss.

“La Cage aux Folles” (1978) / “The Birdcage” (1996) Adapted by Veber, Marcello Danon and director Edouard Molinaro from the play by Jean Poiret, the farcical “La Cage aux Folles” remains one of the highest-grossing French films released in the U.S. Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault star as the owner of a Saint-Tropez nightclub and his performer lover, and the film follows what happens when the businessman’s son brings his fiancée’s conservative family to dinner. (It debuted on Broadway as a musical in 1983 and is currently enjoying a Tony Award-winning revival.) Though the American version, “The Birdcage,” lacks some of the poignancy of the original, it does boast a witty script by Elaine May, razor-sharp direction from Mike Nichols and solid performances from Robin Williams as the owner of a South Beach drag club and Nathan Lane as the venue’s star attraction.

The “Fanny” trilogy (1931-36) / “Fanny” (1961) One of the great love stories ever put on screen, playwright and novelist Marcel Pagnol’s “Fanny” trilogy follows a Marseilles’ barkeeper named Cesar, his 19-year-old son Marius, 18-year-old Fanny and Panisse, a wealthy merchant with his eyes on Fanny. The first chapter “Marius” was released in 1931, with “Fanny” following in 1933 and “Cesar” in 1936. In 1954, “Fanny” was turned into a hit Broadway musical, and in 1961, director Josh Logan directed a lavish new film version of “Fanny” that used the music from the Broadway play as an underscore. Shot on location in Marseille, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards including best picture, lead actor for Charles Boyer as Cesar and cinematography for Jack Cardiff.

“Pepe le Moko” (1937) / “Algiers” (1938) Jean Gabin gave one of his most nuanced performances in Julien Duvivier’s melodrama as a romantic gangster hiding out in the Kasbah in the city of Algiers. Producer Walter Wanger bought the American rights to the film and the following year produced his own version, “Algiers.” Although less sophisticated than the French version, “Algiers” boasted a terrific Oscar-nominated performance from Charles Boyer as Pepe and a star-making turn from Hedy Lamarr as Gaby, the woman he loves.

“Trois Hommes et un Couffin” (1985) / “3 Men and a Baby” (1987) Writer-director Coline Serreau’s Gallic comedy, nominated for both an Oscar and Golden Globe for best foreign language film, revolves around three bachelors sharing an apartment in Paris whose lives change when one of the men’s former girlfriend’s leaves a baby at their doorstep. Leonard Nimoy directed the American rendition starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg. The movie became a box office smash, surpassing the grosses of that year’s other pop culture touchstone, “Fatal Attraction.”

C’est mal

“…And God Created Woman” (1956) / “And God Created Woman” (1988) Roger Vadim’s scandalous “…And God Created Woman” catapulted Brigitte Bardot to international stardom as a highly sexualized 18-year-old orphan who proves irresistible to every man she meets. Apart from the title, Vadim’s own U.S. remake has little in common with his 1956 original; Rebecca De Mornay appears in various states of undress as an unjustly imprisoned vamp who will do anything to gain her freedom.

“Breathless” (1960) / “Breathless” (1983) Jean-Luc Godard’s first feature length film is considered one of the masterpieces of modern French Cinema and is one of the seminal examples of the New Wave. Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as Michel, a petty thief who has modeled himself after Humphrey Bogart; Jean Seberg is his American girlfriend. Raoul Coutard supplied the freewheeling black-and-white cinematography, which was shot with a handheld Eclair Cameflex. With his remake, director Jim McBride might as well have been trying to reinvent the wheel. His version, penned by L.M. Kit Carson, features Richard Gere as a Las Vegas drifter obsessed with comic books and Valerie Kaprisky as his gal pal, a UCLA architecture student. The movie flopped with critics and audiences, though iconoclast director Quentin Tarantino considers it one of his favorite films.

“L’emmerdeur” (1973) / “Buddy Buddy” (1981) Veber penned the screenplay to this French comedy based on his play, “Le contract,” revolving around a hit man who arrives in a town to kill a trial witness only to be derailed by a neurotic hotel guest. The film was a moderate box office hit when released in the U.S., but the remake, which marked Billy Wilder’s last film as a writer-director, misfired in every way, even with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the lead roles. Wilder later said “the best thing for me about ‘Buddy Buddy’ was that not very many people saw it. It hurts to strike out on your last picture.”

“The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe” (1972) / “The Man With One Red Shoe” (1985) Veber also wrote this Yves Robert-directed comedy starring the breezy Pierre Richard as a clumsy violinist who is believed to be a master spy. Limply adapted by Robert Klane and directed without any finesse by Stan Dragoti, the remake stars a young Tom Hanks who manages to wring a few laughs from this witless farce.

“The Wages of Fear” (1953) / “Sorcerer” (1977) Henri-Georges Clouzot directed the nail-biting South-America set thriller about four desperate men (including Yves Montand) hired to drive two trucks over perilous mountain roads to deliver nitroglycerine that will be used to extinguish an American oil well that’s caught fire. William Friedkin’s big-budget 1977 remake, “Sorcerer,” failed to ignite at the box office or with critics, but it has gained in reputation over the decades. Roger Ebert included the title in his top 10 list of films released that year.

susan.king@latimes.com