Dries Vermeulen
Released to French theaters mere months after BANANES MECANIQUES, which had been shot under makeshift conditions nearly a year earlier, PRENEZ LA QUEUE COMME TOUT LE MONDE (continuing the Continental penchant for "double entendre" titles, meaning both "Wait in Line…" or "Take Hold of the Tail Like Everyone Else" !) firmly established the formerly respectable Jean-François Davy's reputation as a smutty "farceur", if one whose dirty jokes could set the box office aflame. In retrospect incorporated as the mid-section of the director's so-called "trilogie paillarde", mixing tits 'n' titters, it abandons the sympathetic free-wheeling approach and "laissez faire" attitude of its predecessor for a more conventionally constructed narrative borrowed from the risqué bedroom farces that proved so popular on the French stage. For those unversed in the matter, this means multiple mistresses, cuckolded husbands, mistaken identities and lots of shouting and running about, only this time with added (and, thankfully, ample) skin. Needless to say, not everyone will consider the result the height of – even Gallic – humor, though the limitless energy and in certain cases downright shamelessness with which the cast quite literally attacks the material deserves to be commended. Almost as big a hit as BANANES, this film received a direct sequel in the far less commercially viable Q, with most of its main characters returning for a comically absurd vision of a socially and economically bankrupt near future. Unlike that third installment, all but completely bereft of turn on value because of its exaggerated presentation of sexual content, PRENEZ LA QUEUE still takes the time to linger on copious nudity supplied by some of the prettiest soft porn starlets of the early '70s.Used car salesman Gilles (another likable turn from Davy's frequent leading man Philippe Gasté) clearly has a knack with the ladies, earning him the envy of his best friends, insurance attorney Xavier (Jean Roche, who starred in Max Pécas' FELICIA) and scrap yard owner Max (funny man Pierre Danny, who would tentatively dabble in hardcore with Pécas' LUXURE and Serge Korber's test case L'ESSAYEUSE, ordered for destruction by the French government in a hollow effort to halt pornography !) who would like nothing more than to trip him up with fiancée Françoise, a welcome return by Karine Jeantet who had starred in Davy's LA DEBAUCHE. Opportunities aren't exactly thin on the ground as Gilles juggles the dynamic duo of Juliette (Anne Libert), the first prize in a radio lottery (okay…), and Monique (Monique Vita), the errant bit on the side of a competitor. The film's frantic pace allows the always lively Libert plenty of opportunity to shine. The equally vivacious Vita was another popular simulated sex siren at the time, instrumental in pushing genre boundaries towards penetration in Korber's HARD LOVE and Alain Nauroy's haunting S&M melodrama LA VILLA a/k/a LE FEU AU VENTRE, the latter demonstrating her unique ability to open liquor bottles without use of her hands. Think about it… Greatest surprise however is beautiful brunette Malisa Longo, whose questionable reputation rests almost entirely on Eurociné's cardboard Nazi numbers ELSA FRÄULEIN SS and HELGA, LA LOUVE DE STILBERG with her playing title role on both occasions. Cast as Christa, the incompetent new secretary who proves a savvy saleslady, she shows a poise and lightness of touch that eludes her screaming sisters who seem to think that the more noise they will make the funnier they will become. Plotwise, she's coveted by real estate vendor Claude (Christian Duroc from Michel Lemoine's LES PETITES SAINTES Y TOUCHENT) who conspires with the other men to have Gilles accosted by all of his oblivious amorous conquests at once by setting up a fake apartment rendezvous. Occasional laughs come courtesy of the theater veterans Davy has filled out his cast with, including the formidable Jean Droze – ineffectively trying to keep two very big dogs in line – who specialized in gay stereotypes in Q and several episodes of the long-running German LIEBESGRÜSSE AUS DER LEDERHOSE sex comedy series.The financial means were dramatically increased in comparison to its cheaply made predecessor, allowing ace camera man Roger Fellous greater freedom to compose individual shots, but you may have to judicially freeze frames in order to fully appreciate his efforts which now tend to get lost in the tiresome shuffle. Sexually speaking, this is the most explicit entry of the three. As befits a pair of sex flick stalwarts, Libert and Vita contribute most actively though Longo offers quality over quantity in a particularly imaginative erotic encounter that has Gasté caressing her mouthwatering curves through a clear plastic chair. His evident expertise at exposing female epidermis makes it all the more regrettable that Davy fancies himself a "real" filmmaker, focusing too much attention away from the foxy flesh in favor of pratfalls and pathetic pranks that have trouble playing outside of his native France.
