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| Patrick Gorman and Ron Howard on Happy Days. |
Somehow, the French people have developed a reputation for rudeness, pretension, and arrogance. In movies, TV shows, and comedy sketches, French characters are often depicted as chortling, dismissive snobs with a seething contempt for foreigners. Think of John Cleese's French guard in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), the one who taunts King Arthur (Graham Chapman) with such devastating insults as: "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!" There's no comeback in the world for that.
Is this reputation deserved? You tell me. As a child, I went on a European vacation with my family, including a week or so in Paris. Apart from one stressed-out waiter at the (otherwise excellent) Stop Cluny, I can't remember anyone being especially rude to us. Maybe, decades ago, some comedy writer had a bad vacation in France and came back home doing an exaggerated French accent. Fair or not, the stereotype stuck around for decades.
The March 1979 episode "The Duel" is Happy Days' version of the "rude Frenchman" story. The plot has French fencing champion Jacques Du Bois (Patrick Gorman) coming to Milwaukee as part of his college tour and being rude to everyone he meets, including Richie (Ron Howard), Fonzie (Henry Winkler), and Joanie (Erin Moran). It all builds up to the titular showdown between Jacques and Fonzie, with America's pride on the line.
What did we think of "The Duel"? Find out by listening to the latest episode of These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast.