The Umbrella Coup

The Umbrella Coup
File:Umbrella coup film.jpg Film poster
Directed by	Gérard Oury
Written by	Gérard Oury Danièle Thompson
Starring	Pierre Richard Gordon Mitchell Gert Fröbe
Music by	Vladimir Cosma
Cinematography	Henri Decaë
Edited by	Albert Jurgenson
Distributed by	Gaumont
Release dates	8 October 1980
Running time	98 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

The Umbrella Coup (French: Le Coup du parapluie) is a 1980 French comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, starring Pierre Richard, Gordon Mitchell and Gert Fröbe.

The creation of the film was inspired by several assassinations of Bulgarian dissidents where the so-called Bulgarian umbrella was used as a weapon. The working title of the film was Le Coup du Parapluie Bulgare.

Plot

The unsuccessful actor Grégoire Lecomte is heading for a casting but then he takes a wrong turn. While he thinks he talks to casting director who wants an actor to play a henchman, he actually talks to a mafia don who wants a real killer. Lecomte's performance is convincing and consequently he receives a contract to finish off arms dealer Otto Krampe. He is supposed to kill Krampe with an umbrella containing a built-in syringe full of potassium cyanide at his birthday party in St-Tropez. Lecomte takes the don for a producer and believes this was all part of shooting a film.

Cast

• Pierre Richard as Grégoire Lecomte
• Gordon Mitchell as Moskovitz
• Valérie Mairesse as Sylvette aka Bunny
• Christine Murillo as Josyane Leblanc
• Gert Fröbe as Otto Krampe aka Whale
• Gérard Jugnot as Frédo
• Vittorio Caprioli as Don Barberini
• Yaseen Khan as Radj Kahn
• Didier Sauvegrain as Stanislas Lefort aka Crazy
• Mike Marshall as the Doctor
• Roger Carel as Salvatore Bozzoni
• Dominique Lavanant as Mireille
• Maurice Risch as the Producer

External links

• The Umbrella Coup at IMDb
• The Umbrella Coup at AllMovie
• The Umbrella Coup/Le Coup du parapluie at the Cinemovies site
• The Umbrella Coup overview at the New York Times