The Black Flag Waves Over the Scow

This is one of the few films directed by the well-known French dialogue writer Michel Audiard who was best known for his comic wit. This film is distinctive, however, for its sweetness. Victor (Jean Gabin) an old man, is a grocer and an obnoxious boss. He has always told his family tales of sea travel and sailing, even though they believe he never was at sea. When his nephew wins a prize for building a model boat, and gets orders to build the boat he’s modelled, uncle Victor knows enough to help supervise the construction, much to the relief of his employees. The nephew’s boss stops funding the boat, but Victor takes up the slack and it is finally built. It does no one any good in the nephew’s backyard, and after a huge struggle the family gets it into the Seine River, where one thing after another goes wrong. The nephew’s son burns the troublesome boat, and Victor goes back to his grocery to one again harass his workers properly. —Hollywood.com