Les joyeux lurons

Three priests in cassocks visit a modest and naive country priest in a village in the South of France. They claim to be sent by the bishop for the purpose of recovering a precious reliquary currently in the hands of a vigorously anti-clerical squire. The non apostolic behavior of the three priests causes the disturbance in the village without altering the confidence of the priest. But the situation is complicated at the Sunday Mass: one is drunk on the sacristy, the other improvises a sermon not very Catholic and the third is a mess in the choir of singing. With the naive complicity of the priest, their scam is about to end ...

Directed by Michel Gérard, Les joyeux lurons leans on a strong ensemble — Alice Sapritch, Paul Préboist, Michel Galabru — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1972.