Babette Goes to War (French title: Babette s'en va-t-en guerre) is a 1959 French war comedy film directed by Christian-Jaque and written by Gérard Oury.
Following the Nazi invasion of France, the naive Babette (Brigitte Bardot) ends up in England and finds work at the Free French Forces' headquarters, where she falls for lieutenant Gérard de Crécy-Lozère (Jacques Charrier). British colonel Fitzpatrick (Ronald Howard) scouts Babette for spy work when he notices her resemblance to an old lover of a high-ranking Nazi officer, General Franz von Arenberg (Hannes Messemer), and concocts a plan to have her seduce him so he can be kidnapped.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: After having a cigarette explode in his face, Fitzpatrick seems to think it was a good gag and laughs along with everyone else.
- Armed Farces: A war comedy about a beautiful but ditzy girl who gets drafted by the British and French forces into seducing a Nazi general.
- During the War: It's set during World War II. It starts with Babette having to flee to England to escape the German invasion of France. She's quickly sent back there with a mission to sabotage the Nazis.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The movie ends with the mission accomplished and the heroes in good humor after they watch Fitzpatrick be on the receiving end of an explosive cigarette, with him laughing as well.
- Explosive Cigar: Babette and Gerard prank Fitzpatrick with a cigarette that blows up in his face.
- Go Seduce My Archnemesis: Once Babette is in occupied France, she has to contend with Papa Schulz, a fanatic Nazi officer who has a bone to pick with Franz and blackmails her into seducing him and exposing any secrets he might have.
- Honey Trap: Babette ends up working for the secret services and is sent to seduce Franz. The idea is to get him to drop his guard so he can be kidnapped.
- Identical Stranger: Babette looks identical to Franz's ex-girlfriend Hilda. Thus, French and British intelligence concoct a plan to kidnap him by having Babette seduce him.
- The Operators Must Be Crazy: Babette gets a brief stint as a phone operator, only to mess things up hilariously as she crosses the wires, resulting in one officer trying to schedule a date with a squeeze and sweet-talking a higher-up instead.
- Spy School: Babette is sent to the training grounds to become a bit more badass before she is sent on the all-important mission.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Some of the French officers are very unhappy at having to work with British intelligence; one grumbles about Fashoda
or how Britain took Canada from France.
