A French action comedy where a boxer accidentally crashes into Hitler's private residence.
In short: In the 1982 film L'as des as, a former World War I fighter ace finds himself in 1936 Berlin. What begins as a trip to the Olympic Games spirals into a chaotic rescue mission involving Gestapo agents, a bear cub, and an unwitting, high-stakes encounter with Adolf Hitler himself.
Directed by Gérard Oury and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, The Ace of Aces was a massive success in France, drawing five and a half million spectators. The narrative begins in 1916, where French pilot Jo Cavalier and German ace Gunther von Beckman force each other to land during an aerial dogfight. Their mutual survival during an artillery barrage establishes an unlikely bond that persists long after the war ends.
Twenty years later, in 1936, Jo returns to Germany as a boxing coach for the Olympic Games. He soon becomes entangled in the plight of the Rosenblum family, Jewish refugees fleeing persecution. After a series of misadventures—including a forest encounter with a bear cub named Beethoven—Jo and his companions accidentally stumble into Hitler's Berghof residence on the Obersalzberg. Mistaking the dictator's private retreat for a hotel, they are hosted by Hitler's sister, Angela, who is played by the same actor, Günter Meisner, as Hitler himself.
The climax features a frantic car chase that ends with Hitler crashing into a duck pond after encountering his former commanding officer, the elderly Rosenblum. The film concludes with the group successfully escaping to Austria, offering a satirical nod to the Anschluss that would occur two years later. Beyond its comedic premise, the film was a financial powerhouse, grossing over $6.5 million in its opening week in France alone, cementing its place as one of Belmondo's most popular box office performances.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Ace of Aces (1982 film)
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