La belle américaine is a French comedy film from 1961, directed by Robert Dhéry, written by Alfred Adam and starring Alfred Adam and Louis de Funès. The film was known under the titles La bella americana (Italian), The American Beauty (English) and Der tolle Amerikaner (German).

Plot

The wife of a rich man learns that her husband has an affair with a younger woman. She takes revenge on him by selling his beloved big car for little money. The worker Marcel Perrignon is very happy about this bargain but when his boss sees the car, he envies him and Perrignon gets fired. This is the start of a number of mishaps for Perrignon.

Cast

• Robert Dhéry as Marcel Perrignon
• Colette Brosset as Paulette Perrignon
• Christian Marin as Pierrot Paulette s brother and ice cream salesman
• Alfred Adam as Alfred the motorbike friend
• Louis de Funès as Les frères Viralot, both the personnel manager and the commissaire (chief inspector)
• Bernard Lavalette as Le ministre du commerce (trade minister)
• Jacques Legras as Riri, cafe owner
• Robert Rollis as the hairdresser
• Annie Ducaux as Mrs Lucanzas
• Éliane d Almeida as Simone
• Michel Serrault as Chauveau aka Veau-froid, the tramp
• Claude Piéplu as the attorney
• Jacques Fabbri as Le gros
• Jean Lefebvre as Chougnasse, Le chef comptable (chief accountant)
• Jean Richard as the spectacled locksmith
• Pierre Dac as the colonel
• Max Favalelli as the ambassador
• Jacques Balutin as Balutin
• Robert Burnier as Houche
• Bernard Dhéran as M. Jean
• Jean Carmet as the car thief
• Roger Pierre as snob sports car driver
• Jean-Marc Thibaut as the effete man
• Christian Duvaleix as the priest in the night
• Fernand Raynaud as himself in his comedy sketch as La Bougie (on a TV show)
• Pierre Tchernia as himself as TV presenter

Year	1961
ReleaseDate	1961-09-29
RuntimeMins	104
RuntimeStr	1h 44min
Plot	Marcel, a simple-minded factory worker, is tricked into buying a high-priced American convertible by a widow determined not to let it fall into the hands of her late husband’s secretary/secret lover. Once in possession of the car,…
Awards	Awards, 1 win
Directors	Robert Dhéry, Pierre Tchernia
Writers	Alfred Adam, Robert Dhéry, Pierre Tchernia
Stars	Alfred Adam, Colette Brosset, Robert Burnier
Produced by	Henri Diamant-Berger, Édouard Harispuru, Florence Lesser, Marcel Maurey
Music by	Gérard Calvi
Cinematography by	Ghislain Cloquet
Film Editing by	Albert Jurgenson
Production Design by	Lucien Aguettand
Makeup Department	Billy Bonnard
Production Management	Walter Rupp
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Tony Aboyantz, Maurice Frydland
Art Department	Jacques Dugied, Michel Suné
Sound Department	Jacques Gérardot, Jean Jak, Robert Teisseire
Camera and Electrical Department	Étienne Becker, Pierre Lhomme, Emmanuel Machuel
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Maggy Rouff
Editorial Department	Eva Zora
Location Management	Louis Germain
Script and Continuity Department	Annie Maurel
Additional Crew	Ginette Diamant-Berger, Louis Manella, Jean Sabrou
Genres	Comedy
Companies	Compagnie Commerciale Française Cinématographique (CCFC), L.C.J Editions & Productions, Le Film d’Art
Countries	France
Languages	French
ImDbRating	6.3
ImDbRatingVotes	665
Keywords	widow,traffic,factory worker,secretary,jealousy