this be a tongue in cheek movie from the very outset with a voice over that poke fun at everything french and then produce a rather naif but very brave hero in fanfan la tulipe . portray by the splendid gerard philippe and the dashing young man believe utterly in the fate curvaceous lollobrigida foretells notably that he will marry king louis xv daughter . problem be and la lollo soon find outs she too be in love with fanfan . propel by good sword fight and cavalcade and and other spirited action sequence the film move at a brisk pace and with many comic moment . the direction be perhaps the weak aspect but the film be so light and take itself so un seriously that i could not give those shortcoming a second thought . look out for noel roquevert and a traditional heavy in french film and try to steal la lollo and make himself a nuisance and and feed the script to the fortune teller that read la lollo hand . and what a gem marcel herrand be a the megalomanous and lust driven king louis xv . that be not all represent so many beautiful woman in one film make me wish i be in france and on the set back in 1952. the film may have come out that year but it verve and cheek and superb narration and immaculate photography and the memorable gerard philippe ensure that it remain modern and a pleasure to watch . i would not hesitate to recommend it to my grandchild let alone to anyone who love movie in general and swashbuckler in particular . do see it .