The Umbrella Coup

The Umbrella Coup (Le Coup du parapluie) is a 1980 French comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, starring Pierre Richard, Gordon Mitchell and Gert Fröbe.

The creation of the film was inspired by several assassinations of Bulgarian dissidents where the so-called Bulgarian umbrella was used as a weapon. The working title of the film was Le Coup du Parapluie Bulgare.

It was shot the Epinay Studios and on location around Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jean André.

Plot
The unsuccessful actor Grégoire Lecomte is heading for a casting but then he takes a wrong turn. While he thinks he talks to casting director who wants an actor to play a henchman, he actually talks to a mafia don who wants a real killer. Lecomte's performance is convincing and consequently he receives a contract to finish off arms dealer Otto Krampe. He is supposed to kill Krampe with an umbrella containing a built-in syringe full of potassium cyanide at his birthday party in St-Tropez. Lecomte takes the don for a producer and believes this was all part of shooting a film.

Cast

 * Pierre Richard as Grégoire Lecomte
 * Gordon Mitchell as Moskovitz
 * Valérie Mairesse as Sylvette a.k.a. Bunny
 * Christine Murillo as Josyane Leblanc
 * Gert Fröbe as Otto Krampe a.k.a. Whale
 * Gérard Jugnot as Frédo
 * Vittorio Caprioli as Don Barberini
 * Yaseen Khan as Radj Kahn
 * Didier Sauvegrain as Stanislas Lefort a.k.a. Crazy
 * Mike Marshall as the Doctor
 * Roger Carel as Salvatore Bozzoni
 * Dominique Lavanant as Mireille
 * Maurice Risch as the Producer