Cute , French and new wave-ishly fun. In this Male Hunt I was not sure as to who was hunting who . It seems to cast an unflattering light on the ladies as being quite manipulative while letting the gents get away with the most outrageous schemes. Like leaving weddings and hiding women in closets. However, it is neat to see almost anything that in trying to be so new and modern at the time it was filmed that has now become so dated as to be a time capsule. The film is like a slice of modern life for the time and so is to todays eyes quite a farce indeed.

If remade now with all the trappings for the world we live in it would i'm sure be very well received as a weekly sit-com on T.V. There is a youthful perspective on the impermanence of love. Joie de vivre rules the day and night in multiple locations and combinations of several couples. The little bar that plays a main role reminds me very much of the one in Amelie. In the end everyone seems happy enough for the time being, I suppose.

The theme of this lightweight comedy is the eternal chase by females after eligible males with the object of matrimony and the endeavors of the males to get away. Edouard Molinaro is considered as an apt director of comedies: after all, he got two Oscars nominations for "La cage aux folles" in 1980 -- "Oscar", "My uncle Benjamin" and "L'emmerdeur" are other highlights in his career. "Male Hunt" may be not as famous, but it is nevertheless a watchable movie in spite of a monotonous script (you get very quickly the idea that women are all manipulative little temptresses). But thanks to a brilliant cast, with the young Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Claude Brialy and Claude Rich and such beauties as the Dorléac sisters (Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac in their prime, i.e. simply beautiful), Mireille Darc, Marie Laforêt, Marie Dubois..., this flick couldn't be a complete failure. And there is Francis Blanche who is as usually a riot as a Greek(!) detective(!!). Bernard Blier is also hilarious as Catherine Deneuve's father. The other strength of the movie is its brilliant dialogs. Michel Audiard had apparently a lot of fun when he wrote sparkling lines that equal (almost) Sacha Guitry in his best plays. Then Molinaro wrapped the whole thing up in a flashy cinematic style (with scenes caught from oblique angles, images within frames, chases à la Mack Sennett...).

A young idle bachelor (Jean-Claude Brialy) aims to get married. His best friend (Claude Rich) thinks he is daft, and desperately, diligently persuades him to give up the reckless idea telling him horrible marriage stories. But on a break-away cruise of the Greek islands our chap meets a predatory young woman (Françoise Dorléac) whose intentions are much more deceptive and whose aim more sure than those of any of the girls he has met...

OK, this movie is not likely to stick in your head for 10 minutes after you've seen it, but you might give it a try.

Incoherent, unfunny and casually sexist; the director, Edouard Molinaro, tries some freewheeling New Wave tricks, but the comic sensibility is much closer to a Jerry Lewis film or the Carry On series. All-star cast (with all the females wasted on shallow roles) and attractive Greek scenery (in the second half) are of little help. * out of 4.