Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Jacque's satiric comic take on swashbucklers extends to war in general and particularly to the men who lead their armies.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Staff (Not Credited)

Jacque's satiric comic take on swashbucklers extends to war in general and particularly to the men who lead their armies.

Variety

A rousing, good humored costumer on ribald 18th-century France. (Review of Original Release)

Washington Post by Desson Thomson

That the actor performs so effortlessly, so casually, is the real magic here. You forget about technique, and, best of all, you forget you're watching a black-and-white subtitled French movie from the dusty past.

Village Voice by Jessica Winter

Cahiers-savvy cinephiles will recognize Fanfan as the type of handsome prestige production that the French New Wave overthrew in the early '60s, but this example of the "cinéma de qualité" is hardly a musty artifact, with its compact editing, its breezy and mischievous tone, and, in a country not yet a decade removed from the Nazi occupation, its acrid anti-militarism, clear from the ash-dry narration of the opening battle sequences onward.

Variety by Staff (Not Credited)

A rousing, good humored costumer on ribald 18th-century France. (Review of Original Release)

TV Guide Magazine

Although the film contains a subtle antiwar message, it's not necessary to look for any rhyme or reason in the script; just enjoy all the derring-do.

TV Guide Magazine by Staff (Not Credited)

Although the film contains a subtle antiwar message, it's not necessary to look for any rhyme or reason in the script; just enjoy all the derring-do.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

With Philipe apparently doing a lot of his own stunts, Fanfan is replete with heroic leaps, speedy horse rides, occasional explosions and clashing sabers. If this all sounds like a 1950s version of "Pirates of the Caribbean," that may not be such a bad comparison.

L.A. Weekly by Ella Taylor

There's nothing profound going on here, and this pristine example of cinéma de qualité must later have driven ardent French New Wavers round the bend. But as a breezy populist comedy, more farce than satire, it remains infectious, and the case made for love and sex over tyranny and death takes us back to an age when romantic leads were less self-serious and more willing to double up as buffoons.

The New York Times

The production is handsome, solid and bursting with Gallic atmosphere. Christian-Jaque gets a bouquet for his effort, even though it's just this side of being complete. (Review of Original Release)

The New York Times by Bosley Crowther

The production is handsome, solid and bursting with Gallic atmosphere. Christian-Jaque gets a bouquet for his effort, even though it's just this side of being complete. (Review of Original Release)

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

What played as glorious period tomfoolery to European festival juries and discerning U S audiences in the early 1950s now just seems quaintly pleased with itself.

Salon by Andrew O'Hehir

The hectic, sprawling Fanfan la Tulipe eventually feels like too much -- too many goofy asides, too much Comédie Française hambone acting, too much gallantry and villainy, too much forced good cheer.