How the film "Unlucky" was filmed: footage from filming and 14 interesting facts about the film (18 photos)
The French comedy "The Unlucky Ones" starring Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard, which tells the story of a private detective and an unlucky accountant who go in search of the kidnapped daughter of the president of a large company, became a real hit both in France and in the USSR. 
1. In fact, the film "Unlucky" is known by this name only among Soviet viewers. The original title of the film is "Le chevre", which literally translates as "The Goat". In colloquial speech, this word can mean bait or fishing with live bait. This is precisely the meaning that director Francis Weber intended when he called his film that way. He also explained that the bait (goat) here is the hero of Pierre Richard.
2. The director of the future film, Francis Weber, wanted to see the famous actor Lino Ventura in the role of detective Jean Campana. Moreover, Ventura had already agreed to the role of the private detective after reading the script. 
Lino Ventura
But when Ventura learned that his partner would be Jacques Villeret, who was supposed to play Francois Perrin, the actor refused without any explanation. He just didn't want to act with Villerain.
As a result, the director followed Ventura’s lead and removed Jacques Villerain from the role of Francois Perrin. After such an act, Villerain was very offended by Francis Weber. 
Jacques Villerain
Francis Weber began looking for other actors to play the role of Perrin, but Ventura rejected every candidate. It was only when actor Pierre Richard appeared on the horizon that Ventura finally gave the go-ahead. But before this, Weber himself did not want to call Richard, since the previous film with his participation ("The Toy") failed at the box office.
3. It would seem that the main actors have been found. But that was not the case. When the producer of the Guamont company met with Ventura to sign a contract with him to star in the film, the actor charged such a fee for the filming that his services simply had to be refused.
4. Despite the fact that the film did not have a main star, Weber had no intention of curtailing production of the film. But now it was necessary to quickly find an actor who would play the role of detective Jean Campana. 
And then Weber’s agent suggested Gerard Depardieu for this role. True, there was one small nuance. Before filming The Unlucky, Gerard Depardieu had never acted in a comedy film, so it was not clear whether he would be able to make the viewer laugh. 
And to find out whether Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard could interact together, it was decided to invite the actors to dinner. Pierre Richard ate so sloppily that crumbs of food flew straight at Depardieu. Seeing how intently and incredulously Depardieu looked at Richard, Weber decided that this would be just the perfect acting tandem. 
5. Despite the fact that Gerard Depardieu agreed to the role, he wanted to play exclusively Francois Perrin, since he liked this role more. But the role of François Perrin had already been assigned to Pierre Richard, especially since he played a character with that name in the films “The Tall Blonde in a Black Shoe” and “The Toy.” True, despite the same first and last name, these are completely different characters. 
Depardieu almost caused a scandal because of this, but in the end the director talked to Depardieu, persuading him to play the role of detective Campana.
6. Initially, it was planned to involve a real gorilla in the filming. But this idea was quickly abandoned. It was dangerous to say the least. And as it turned out, gorillas are not found in the Mexican jungle. And dragging around a huge primate would be even more of a pleasure. Therefore, it was decided to use a stuntman dressed in a monkey suit. 
7. During the filming of the quicksand scene, the director forgot to say the command “Cut”, and as a result, Richard stood there, half immersed in the sand. And due to the fact that he stood for a long time under the scorching sun, his skin on his face was completely burnt. 
8. The filming took place in hot Mexico, where all members of the film crew suffered greatly from the heat. Not only was the temperature only in the shade 40 degrees, but also various living creatures in the form of mosquitoes and snakes spoiled the mood of the crew members. 
One day, Depardieu even stepped on a scorpion with his bare foot, after which he urgently needed help. But the actor’s suffering did not end there, because a little later he discovered a snake right in his hotel room. 
By the way, the cobra was delivered from Switzerland specifically for the filming of the film. But after filming several takes, she crawled into the forest, and since then no one has seen her again.
9. Pierre Richard was also a lover of female affection and attention. Every now and then ladies came to his trailer, who... however, you already understand everything. 
One day, the makeup artist was so distracted by the shaking trailer in which Richard and his new lady were located that she accidentally ran into the eye of Gerard Depardieu, whom she was doing makeup at the moment not far from this very trailer. After this, Gerard screamed loudly, but did not pawn his friend on anyone.
10. Since a good part of the filming took place in Mexico, local actors were also involved in the filming of the film. The only problem was that they didn't speak French, so it was difficult for them to communicate with the crew members.
And to avoid additional language difficulties, the director ordered the Mexicans to speak their native Spanish. Well, after that their remarks were dubbed into French. 
11. Gerard Depardieu was a big drinker, which the director really didn’t like. But since he did not want to drink alone, the actor invited Pierre Richard to join him. On this basis, the actors even became friends.
According to Pierre Richard, they did not want the director to catch them drinking strong drinks, so they, like children, waited until Weber fell asleep, after which they left their hotel rooms at night and went for a walk with all that entails. 
By the way, Richard turned out to be a really good friend, since he never pawned his comrade Gerard Depardieu. The director often asked Richard if Depardieu had drunk today, to which Richard always answered in the negative.
But director Francis Weber understood everything perfectly, especially since Depardieu more than once fell onto the set, barely standing on his feet. Weber threatened Depardieu that if he saw him drunk again, he (Weber) would immediately close the filming. Gerard Depardieu did not drink again during the filming of the film. Moreover, he never drank again during the filming of all subsequent films by Francis Weber. 
12. After filming ended, the film's producer Alain Poiret said that he would not pay for a ticket to Paris for Gerard Depardieu.
The actor was offended by the producer and decided to take revenge on him for this. During a banquet dedicated to the end of filming of the film, Gerard Depardieu specially ordered a bottle of the most expensive wine, Petrus, 1965. Such an act did not go unnoticed. Alain Poiret was simply beside himself with anger. 
13. The film "Unlucky" was extremely popular among Soviet viewers. True, the ruthless Soviet censorship cut out about 20 minutes from the total running time of the film.
The main characters themselves speak in the voices of Alexander Belyavsky (Richard) and Vadim Spiridonov (Depardieu) in Soviet dubbing.
14. The film “Unlucky” became a real hit at the French box office, and even overtook the film “The Professional” with Jean Paul Belmondo in terms of the number of viewers. 
15. In 1991, an American remake of the film "The Bad Luck" was released, starring Martin Short and Danny Glover. And Francis Weber was invited to the filming as a consultant.
Also, in 2003, a film by Francis Weber was released with Gerard Deparde and Jean Reno, which is also known in our country as “The Unlucky”. But in fact, the film "The Unlucky" (2003) is in no way related to the original 1981 film. Moreover, in the original the film is called "Tais-toi", which translates as "Shut up." But our localizers, in order to attract the attention of viewers, named the film the same as the cult comedy of 1981. 
Unlucky (2003)
