Me and the Colonel

In Paris during the World War II invasion of France by Nazi Germany, Jewish refugee S. L. Jacobowsky seeks to leave the country before it falls. Meanwhile, Polish diplomat Dr. Szicki gives the antisemitic and autocratic Polish Colonel Prokoszny secret information that must be delivered to London by a certain date.

The resourceful Jacobowsky, who has had to flee from the Nazis several times previously, manages to "buy" an automobile from the absent Baron Rothschild's chauffeur. Prokoszny peremptorily requisitions the car, but finds he must accept an unwelcome passenger when he discovers that Jacobowsky has had the foresight to secure gasoline. The ill-matched pair (coincidentally from the same village in Poland) and the colonel's orderly, Szabuniewicz, drive away.

Jacobowsky is dismayed when the colonel first heads to Reims in the direction of the advancing German army to pick up his girlfriend, Suzanne Roualet, a French innkeeper's daughter. Prior to their arrival, Suzanne attracts the unwanted admiration of German Major von Bergen, but he is called away before he can become better acquainted with her.

As they flee south, Jacobowsky begins to fall in love with Suzanne. At one stop, Jacobowsky manages to find the group magnificent lodgings at a chateau by telling its proud royalist owner that unoccupied France is to become a monarchy headed by the colonel. A drunk Prokoszny challenges Jacobowsky to a duel, but Jacobowsky manages to defuse the situation. When the Germans, under von Bergen, occupy the chateau, the foursome barely get away.

They are chased by von Bergen, but the assistance of a sympathetic Mother Superior enables them to shake off their pursuers and reach a prearranged rendezvous with a British submarine. There, however, the submarine's commander informs them that there is only room for two. Suzanne makes the colonel and Jacobowsky go, while she remains behind to fight the invaders in her own way.

{{Cast listing|

• Danny Kaye as S.L. Jacobowsky
• Curd Jürgens as Colonel Prokoszny (as Curt Jurgens)
• Nicole Maurey as Suzanne Roualet
• Françoise Rosay as Madame Bouffier (as Francoise Rosay)
• Akim Tamiroff as Szabuniewicz
• Martita Hunt as Mother Superior
• Alexander Scourby as Major von Bergen
• Liliane Montevecchi as Cosette
• Ludwig Stössel as Dr. Szicki (as Ludwig Stossel)
• Gérard Buhr as German Captain (as Gerard Buhr)
• Franz Roehn as Monsieur Girardin
• Celia Lovsky as Mme. Arle
• Clément Harari as Man of the Gestapo (as Clement Harari)
• Alain Bouvette as Rothschild's Chauffeur
• Albert Godderis as M. Gravat
• Peter Glenville as Submarine Captain (uncredited)

}}

The film was William Goetz's first film in a six-picture deal for Columbia.{{cite magazine|title='Cordura' Pends As Columbia Special For Hard Ticket|magazine=Variety |date=February 4, 1959|page=7|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/variety213-1959-02#page/n6/mode/1up|access-date=July 4, 2019|via=Archive.org}}

The film was well reviewed but did not do well at the box office.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=New Hard Look at Film Critics And Their Relationship To B.O.|last=Arneel|first=Gene|date=August 10, 1960|page=3|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety219-1960-08#page/n66/mode/1up|access-date=February 9, 2021|via=Archive.org}} Herbert Feinstein in Film Quarterly, wrote that "Willam Goetz ... produces the minor miracle of creating a credible modern-day fairy tale."{{cite journal |url=https://fq.ucpress.edu/content/12/2/51 |title=Review: Me and the Colonel |last=Feinstein |first=Herbert |journal=Film Quarterly |volume=12 |number=2 |date=Winter 1958 |pages=51–53 |doi=10.2307/3186056|jstor=3186056 |url-access=subscription }} He lauded all of the main actors, but singled out Kaye for even higher praise, stating, "The director (Peter Glenville) doubtless is a genius, for he has taken this batch of variously outrageous personalities and muted them into a team: in the case of Kaye, the alchemy achieves pure gold."

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title}}
• {{AFI film}}
• {{TCMDb title}}
• [https://archive.org/download/TheaterGuildontheAir/Tgoa_45-09-16_ep002-Jacobowsky_and_the_Colonel.mp3 1945 Theatre Guild on the Air radio adaptation of original play] at Internet Archive

{{Peter Glenville}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1958 films

Category:1958 comedy films

Category:1950s American films

Category:1950s buddy comedy films

Category:1950s English-language films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:American buddy comedy films

Category:American films based on plays

Category:American World War II films

Category:Columbia Pictures films

Category:English-language buddy comedy films

Category:Films directed by Peter Glenville

Category:Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe winning performance

Category:Films scored by George Duning

Category:Films set in France