The Big Restaurant (Le Grand Restaurant)

Jacques Besnard directed Le Grand Restaurant (The Big Restaurant) in 1966, a French comedy thriller of about 83 minutes starring Louis de Funès. It was released as Scharfe Kurven für Madame in Germany and What's Cooking in Paris in the United States.

De Funès plays Monsieur Septime, owner of a celebrated Paris restaurant on the Champs-Élysées. Septime bullies his staff and fawns over his customers. One day a South American head of state is abducted from his dining room, and every suspicion turns toward him. Bernard Blier plays the police commissioner on the case, with Noël Roquevert, Paul Préboist, Folco Lulli and Venantino Venantini in support.

The idea came from De Funès himself. In the late 1950s he wanted to turn his memories of youthful years as a bar pianist into a story; he co-wrote the script with Jean Halain and Jacques Besnard and put the cast together himself. It was shot at the Saint-Maurice studios and on location in Paris, the Côte d'Azur and Val-d'Isère. Critics were lukewarm, yet the film, released in autumn 1966, drew more than 3.8 million viewers and later became a classic of French television.