Si ce n'est toi is a colour 109-minute mystery TV movie produced by ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) and aired by its Deuxième chaîne on August 16, 1974.
It's also one of four very peculiar episodes of the detective series Les Cinq Dernières Minutes (1958-1996).
Created by journalist, director, scriptwriter and producer Claude Loursais, Les Cinq Dernières Minutes is one of the first series in the History of French television. It was launched on January 1, 1958 on the only channel of RTF (Radiodiffusion Télévision Française), the predecessor of ORTF. Les Cinq Dernières Minutes went through numerous changes in three "eras" until France 2 shown its 149th episode on December 20, 1996. The first era (1958-1973) was penned by Loursais — who directed most of its episodes — with Fred Kassak, Louis C. Thomas, Michel Lebrun, Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe, Henri Grangé, André Maheux, Jean Cosmos, etc. This version starred Raymond Souplex as the mustachioed and gruff Inspecteur/Commissaire Antoine Bourrel and Jean Daurand as Inspecteur Dupuy. Pierre Collet played Brigadier Coulomb.
Les Cinq Dernières Minutes was initially a mystery gameshow aired live from the Buttes-Chaumont
studios. Two selected viewers watched a whodunit, then Inspecteur Bourrel
asked them the solution and how to prove it with the possibility to
watch again two scenes. Les Cinq Dernières Minutes dropped live broadcasting and the game format to explore different socio-professional environments in episodes shot in studio on video and on 16mm film for the locations. The popularity of the programme peaked in the 1960s-1970s and turned Raymond Souplex and Jean Daurand into TV stars. Bourrel's catchphrase (« Bon Dieu, mais c'est bien sûr! ») entered the vernacular. The series was adapted in Germany under the title Dem Täter auf der Spur (1967-1973). Les Cinq Dernières Minutes switched from black and white to colour in 1971 and Dupuy was gradually phased out after Jean Daurand's health issues.
In September 1972, Raymond Souplex worked on the 56th episode, Un gros pépin dans le chasselas. The shooting was interrupted by the ORTF rolling strikes of October but the scenarios of two episodes, Les griffes de la colombe (Episode 57) and Fausse note, were ready (1) so the actor rehearsed the former on November 20. He died two days later from cancer, aged 71. Claude Loursais decided that Episode 56, completed thanks to script changes and editing, would be the last one (2). Nevertheless, four TV movies were tested between July 1974 and January 1975 (not in their production order) on the Deuxième chaîne and Antenne 2: Rouges sont les vendanges, Fausse note, Si ce n'est toi (formerly Les griffes de la colombe) and Le Coup de pouce. Those films, independent from Les Cinq Dernières Minutes though built on its "formula", introduced new detectives and the famous theme music by Marc Lanjean (3) was notably absent.
Helmed by Claude Loursais, Si ce n'est toi was penned by Louis C. Thomas and Michel Lebrun. Like Fausse note it was written for Bourrel, that's why both scripts had to be revised. Two tramps, Mouton and Bébé Rose, save a young woman who thrown herself into La Seine. Mouton finds a key and visits a house where he discovers the dead body of a man stabbed with a cutlass. The place is the temple of the Colombier, a strange religious community, and the victim, Serge Montuget, one of its members. The no-nonsense Commissaire Lindet is baffled and asks for the assistance of Officier de police Ménardeau, an expert in religions. They come across Sylvie Bracieux, the young woman saved from suicide. Daughter of a banker, Sylvie is a member of the community and she was in love with Montuget. Lindet and Ménardeau learn that "Frère Serge" was far from leading an ascetic life.
Si ce n'est toi definitely suffered from the death of Raymond Souplex. Commissaire Lindet, played by Henri Lambert (Jean-Roch Coignet), is a poor substitute to Bourrel. Marc Eyraud is the Columbo-esque Ménardeau, "the guy who eats seeds" (says Lindet). The police officer is an antoinist, a member of a cult from Belgium. It's a pretext to show that the writers did their homeworks and some parts of his first conversation with Lindet sound weird today. Mouton and Bébé Rose are played by Hubert Deschamps and Jean-Pierre Rambal, two character actors appreciated by the public. Deschamps (Zazie dans le métro) steals the film with his cheekiness and some great dialogues. In 1977, Rambal starred in the charming comedy series La Lune papa. André Falcon (Bracieux) worked with Raymond Souplex on the rehearsals. Charles Millot (Les Barbouzes) plays "Le Maître", the guru of the Colombier community.
There's no original music, as often with ORTF. René Taquet is credited as the sound illustrator of Si ce n'est toi. He was an artistic director, a music producer who founded the Disques Magellan label (4) and a library music specialist. The soundtrack of the TV movie comes from his Patchwork catalogue. For instance, a theme called Secret derrière la porte composed in 1971 by Vladimir Cosma. Produced by Marc Chanal and Michèle Piétri. Cinematography by Albert Schimel. Video editing by Thérèse Sonntag. Film editing by Maryvonne Cuglière. Stunts by Michel Norman and Michèle Delacroix. Also with Marianne Eggerickx (Sylvie), Jean-Claude Jay (Frère Georges), Guy Bousquet (Frère Pierre), Jean-Pierre Andréani (Frère Serge), Wanda Woznica (Soeur Jeanne), Perrette Pradier (Léontine), Armand Mestral (Renoux), Pierre Duncan (Brigadier), Patrick Laval (Medical intern), Séverine Morizot, Bernard Musson, Nicole Evans...
Marc Eyraud returned as Ménardeau in Fausse note to the solve the case on his own and without his religious beliefs (never to be heard of again). Then, the likeable inspector became the deputy of Commissaire Le Carré (Christian Barbier) in Rouges sont les vendanges. The four TV movies are retrospectively considered as "La période intermédiaire" of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes. In 1974, Jacques Debary (Poker d'as) was announced as the unnamed commissaire of Loursais' new (as yet untitled) mystery drama and that the shooting of its first episode had begun. This episode, called Le lièvre blanc aux oreilles noires, was aired by Antenne 2 on May 19, 1975 as part of... Les Cinq Dernières Minutes. Commissaire Broussard (Jacques Debary) had to be renamed Commissaire Cabrol because there was a real-life supercop named Broussard. Marc Eyraud came back again as Ménardeau in the following episode for an association with Cabrol which lasted until 1991.
Pierre Santini (Un juge, un flic) as Commissaire Julien Massard and Pierre Hoden (Inspecteur Antoine Barrier) were the final duo of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes from 1992 to 1996. Perrette Souplex, the daughter of Raymond Souplex, guest starred as Bourrel's daughter in a 1995 episode. The episodes of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes from 1958 to 1991 are available on Madelen, the streaming service of INA. Brigade des Mineurs,
the 1977-1979 social drama series created by Claude Loursais and
starring Jean Daurand as Commissaire Dupuy, is on Madelen too.
(1) Michel Lebrun in Télé 7 Jours N°744 (July 27, 1974). https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2024/06/rouges-sont-les-vendanges-ortf-1974.html
(2) Télé 7 Jours N°667 (February 3, 1973).
(3) Arsenic Blues, composed by Marc Lanjean for the movie La Peau de l'ours (1957).
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