Product Details

• Actors: Louis de Funès, Miou-Miou, Suzy Delair, Marcel Dalio, Claude Giraud
• Directors: Gérard Oury
• Writers: Roberto De Leonardis, Josy Eisenberg
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• DVD Release Date: April 13, 2004
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001DMW6G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,363 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Facets Multimedia Release Date: 04/13/2004

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just one of many great Louis De Funès films., September 29, 2004

By 

Esn024 "esn024" (Toronto, CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (DVD)

I must say, I disagree completely with whoever it was who said that because of Louis de Funès' extraordinary performance in this movie that this is the only movie for which he is well known in the English-speaking world. He's indeed very funny in this movie, but this is not his best film. Why his other classics, such as La Grande Vadrouille, L'Aile Ou La Cuisse or others are not released with english subtitles is quite beyond me!
This movie gets 4.5 stars from me; it goes by quickly and it has many incredibly funny parts, but it doesn't quite seem to flow as smoothly as those other De Funès films that I've seen (while on my vacation to Russia, where they're shown all the time on tv). The ending, in particular, is chaotic and confusing.

The DVD, however gets 3/5 from me. The quality might be a BIT better than a VHS, and the picture is clean, but it's still not nearly as sharp as most DVDs out there. Also, there is no option to turn off the subtitles (which are pretty good, although not everything is translated and a few puns such as "Pivert" vs "pervert" took a while for me to sink in).

Frankly, they have no excuse for the lack of effort on the DVD. This DVD is currently pretty high on the Amazon.ca sales rankings. Louis de Funès' most popular movie, La Grande Vadrouille, is even higher (~136) and was chosen for "Le meilleur de l'année 2003" ("The best of year 2003"). So it REALLY baffles me why nobody is bothering to release any of this comedian's other movies for English speaking audiences, in GOOD DVDs; the market is certainly there. PLEASE, PLEASE release more Louis De Funès DVDs!

Anyway, those of you who're English-speaking and who've never seen a Louis De Funès film should buy this DVD without a second thought; you won't regret it, it's very entertaining, and not just if you're French!

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny movie; rather basic DVD., October 4, 2004

By 

Edward M. Curtis (Morgantown, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (DVD)

A coworker recommended this movie to me, and I rented it. I am so glad I did. It is very very funny, and (except for a bit of gunplay) it is CLEAN! Well OK there is some mess with bubble gum, but that's not the kind of clean I mean. ;-) Definitely one of the better comedies I have seen over the last few years, and I may soon be adding this to my collection.

I would recommend, however, that you NOT pay full price for this DVD; rather, see if you can snag a used copy from an Amazon Marketplace seller. As others have pointed out, it is a rather barebones disc, and the poor grammar in the cast bios (putting PAST events in the PRESENT TENSE) along with the clunky navigation have caused me to reluctantly deduct a star from the rating. The picture quality is excellent, however.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice job on the dvd, Facets!!, July 18, 2004

By 

The Gort (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (DVD)

The madcap slapstick adventure won't appeal to everyone, but there is much that is original and funny.

I must say, though, to those reviewers who have been whining about the DVD, that you're way off base. This is a 1973 film, remember, that has a lovely widescreen non-anamorphic DVD transfer with a rich, accurate color palette and excellent sharpness throughout. It is clearly NOT from a VHS original, and is one of the better looking 1970's DVD's you will see. Thirty years after the fact, with a film that will not sell a million copies, you cannot complain about the lack of special features. Thanks, Facets, for giving us a clear look at a forgotten classic!