It’s a big, fat shonda that this 1973 comedy classic isn’t more easily available on home video here in the US. I saw it for the first time as a kid at the movies when it was initially released, then a few times on cable in the 80’s before it vanished. I’d thought it gone for good from circulation until I went to France in 1995 with a few friends and our luggage got accidentally put on another flight from Heathrow during the connection from New York (Oops!).

While waiting around the place we were staying for the airport van to arrive with our bags, I decided to turn on the TV just to see what Parisians watch when they’re not outside at some nice cafe sipping whatever and smoking Gauloises and people watching (which is a fine sport in Paris). Guess what was on? That’s right, and even more amusing, I found out soon enough that the film is something of a national treasure there. Even funnier was during the time I was in France, the two other times I walked past a TV that was on, the film was playing, which led me to believe that there was either a Rabbi Jacob channel running this on a loop 24 hours a day or whomever was in charge of network programming had a rather single-minded sense of humor…

Anyway, in a nutshell, the film is about a bigoted Frenchman named Victor Pivert (a hilarious Louis de Funès) who ends up getting a handy few lessons in tolerance when he’s forced to disguise himself as a rabbi and hide from some Arab extremists along with a shady character who he can’t get away from. The film’s blend of slapstick humor, puns (that yes, sound better in the original French, according to a few friends) and sight gags plus subtle and not so subtle moralizing work excellently and yes, there’s something for everyone in this flick. If you’re overly PC, you may find some of the racial stuff eyebrow raising, but this is a case where a blackface gag and yes, Pivet’s turn as a rabbi for a good chunk of the movie make for brilliant jabs that bring smiles and laughs because he’s getting his just desserts. Yes, there’s a happy ending, but it’s an honest and earned one as Pivet takes his lumps, the bad guys don’t get away clean and there’s a wedding that’s a rousing success.

The film also isn’t short on action, as there’s a great car chase (that proves French automobiles are pretty nimble… to a point), a classic bit in a bubble gum factory, some bloodless gunplay and other bits that snap this one along. Of course, the film’s best (and funniest) sequence is the wild wedding dance sequence where Pivet, in full rabbi regalia does a traditional dance and pretty much makes you laugh so hard that you’ll need to watch it again… only to end up laughing even more the second, third and fourth time you do so. This is actually a fantastic film to pair up with the great film version of Fiddler on the Roof just to compare that film’s memorably beautiful wedding sequence with it’s amazing dance finale to this film’s take on it. And no, I don’t think it’ll do a thing about making Yentl a better movie.

Another lovely thing about the movie it it’s G-rating, meaning that you can plop the kids down and catch this together. There’s no blood in that brief gun battle, and you’ll probably want to keep them away from gum for a while after that factory part (No, you can’t cover your entire head in bubble gum and blow a bubble off the top of it, kids!). I’d imagine if the wee ones have any questions about Pivet’s racial attitudes, that’s a nice topic for discussion afterwards. It’s definitely a heck of a lot better than what passes for family movies these days packed with overpaid stars, too many fart jokes and other more annoying behavior that seems meant to be emulated or at least slapped on some licensed junk targeted at the kids. The only thing you get with Rabbi Jacob is laughs that stay with you for a while and come back the next time you watch.

As for tracking this down today, well… good luck on that front. It does pop up as an expensive DVD (with a not so hot VHS-quality transfer) on Amazon.com and I believe no special features to speak of (boo!), but I’m hoping to g-d (ha ha) that Shout Factory or the Criterion Collection finds, begs, borrows or steals the rights to get this produced and back onto the market as a higher quality Blu-Ray/DVD release. Either than, or having Turner Classic Movies running this on TCM and TCM on Demand so it can reach all those classic movie fans who’ve yet to experience one of the best foreign comedies of the 70’s.