Santa Claus is Garbage (Le Père Noël est une ordure) is a cult Christmas film rebroadcast annually. This 1982 gem from the Splendid troupe hasn't revealed all its secrets. Here are 5 essential facts about this irreverent holiday favorite.
It never fails to captivate. This film shatters the magical Christmas image, starring Josiane Balasko, Anémone, Christian Clavier, Marie-Anne Chazel, Thierry Lhermitte, and Gérard Jugnot in hilarious Christmas Eve antics that still draw laughs today.
The Splendid troupe's initial title was rejected as too vulgar for kids. Santa Claus Shot Himself in the Ass clashed with the jolly Santa image. Though changed, some theaters tweaked posters to Santa Claus is Almost Garbage.
Early scenes show Gérard Jugnot as Santa on Paris's Grands Boulevards. To film without backlash, production used a false title: Les Bronzés Celebrate Christmas, capitalizing on the Les Bronzés craze to secure Paris City Hall permits. It worked seamlessly.
Doubitchous didn't spring from thin air. With her father from Osijek, Croatia, Balasko sampled local specialties there, inspiring the iconic armpit rolls featured in the film.
The film's SOS-distress-friendship premise crossed the Atlantic in 1994 as Mixed Nuts (Joyeux Noël), starring Steve Martin, Liev Schreiber, and Adam Sandler. It bombed and was dubbed one of the worst films ever.
Gérard Jugnot confirmed in his autobiography that SOS-distress-friendship existed. "At the time, I knew someone who neglected his kids to answer SOS friendship calls," he wrote. This sparked the chtarbé characters with the troupe, despite fears no one else would laugh.
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