The Wise Guys (1972 film)

The Wise Guys
FrenchLes Smattes
Directed byJean-Claude Labrecque
Written byJean-Claude Labrecque
Clément Perron
Lise Noiseux
Produced byPierre Lamy
StarringDonald Pilon
Daniel Pilon
CinematographyGuy Dufaux
Edited byPierre Leroux
Music byJacques Perron
Production
companies
Cinak Compagnie Cinématographique
Les Productions Carle-Lamy
Les Filmes Jean-Claude Labrecque
Distributed byLes Films Mutuels
Release date
  • April 20, 1972 (1972-04-20)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

The Wise Guys (French: Les Smattes) is a Canadian crime drama film, directed by Jean-Claude Labrecque and released in 1972.[1] Labrecque's first narrative feature film after a career making documentaries, the film centres on Pierre Drouin (Donald Pilon) and Réjean Cardinal (Daniel Pilon), two friends in the Gaspésie region of Quebec who become fugitives after refusing to leave their village when the provincial government orders it to be shut down.[2]

The cast also includes Marcel Sabourin, Louise Laparé, Marcel Martel and Pierre Dagenais.

The film premiered in Quebec theatres on April 20, 1972.[3] It was subsequently screened in the Directors' Fortnight stream at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival.[3]

  1. ^ Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN 1-894073-21-5. p. 227.
  2. ^ "Les Smattes". Canadian Film Encyclopedia (Toronto International Film Festival).
  3. ^ a b Charles-Henri Ramond, "Smattes, Les – Film de Jean-Claude Labrecque". Films du Québec, April 27, 2009.