The Gendarme of Saint-Tropez (Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez)

Set among the yachts and beaches of Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, The Troops of St. Tropez (Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez) is a French-Italian comedy from 1964. Jean Girault directed it and wrote the script with Richard Balducci and Jacques Vilfrid. The roughly 89-minute film launched the Gendarme series about Ludovic Cruchot and was conceived from the start as a vehicle for its star, Louis de Funès.

Cruchot, an overzealous sergeant, is transferred to the seaside town, where he finds a slack brigade under Warrant Officer Gerber, nudists and a hectic summer season. He must also cope with his daughter Nicole's new craving for freedom. Michel Galabru plays Gerber and Geneviève Grad plays Nicole, with Jean Lefebvre and Christian Marin among the gendarmes.

Made on a small budget in June and July 1964 at Belvédère, in Saint-Tropez and at the Victorine studios in Nice, it is also known for Raymond Lefèvre's score, including "Douliou-douliou Saint-Tropez" and the "Marche des Gendarmes". Released in September 1964, it unexpectedly topped the French box office with over 7.8 million admissions. De Funès won a Victoire du cinéma and his career took off. Five sequels followed over nearly twenty years, and the Saint-Tropez gendarmerie building became a museum in 2016.