Themes: Cooks and Chefs, Race Against Time, Americans Abroad
Main Cast: George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Morley, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Philippe Noiret
Release Year: 1978
Country: WG/US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Max (Robert Morley) is a wealthy, world-class conoisseur of fine food, who cannot stop himself from eating when the food is first-class. His doctor has given him stern warnings that he must lose over one hundred pounds, or he will die of heart failure. The presence of so many four-star chefs in Europe is a hazard for him. When many of these same chefs are found murdered in inventive ways, each related to the chef's specialty, it begins to appear that Max is the prime suspect in their deaths. Meanwhile, the ex-wife (Jaqueline Bisset) of a fast-food tycoon (George Segal) has earned the right to cook the dessert course at a dinner billed as "the world's most fabulous meal." Despite their profound disagreements, he is worried that she will be one of the murderer's victims.This film, which was loved by some critics and hated by others, is based on the best-selling novel Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe by Nan and Ivan Lyons. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Jean Rochefort - Grandvilliers; Luigi Proietti - Ravello; Stefano Satta Flores - Fausto Zoppi; Madge Ryan - Beecham; Frank Windsor - Blodgett; Peter Sallis - St. Claire; Tim Barlow - Doyle; John Le Mesurier - Dr. Deere; Joss Ackland - Cantrell; Daniel Emilfork - Saint-Juste; Jacques Marin - Massenet; Jacques Balutin - Chappemain; Jean Parédès - Brissac; Kenneth Fortescue - Director; Nicholas Ball - Skeffington; John Carlisle - Actor; Michael Chow - Soong; Aimée Delamain - Old Woman; Jean Gaven - Calpetre; Nigel Havers - Counterman; Caroline Langrishe - Loretta; Struan Rodger - Assistant Director; Eddie Tagoe - Mumbala; Anita Graham - Blonde; Sylvia Kay - Reporter; Sheila Ruskin - Actress; Derek Smith - Man in Corridor; David Cook - Bussingbill
Credit
Werner Achmann - Art Director, Lynn H. Guthrie - Associate Producer, Donfeld - Costume Designer, Judy Moorcraft - Costume Designer, Wolfgang Glattes - First Assistant Director, Ted Kotcheff - Director, Thom Noble - Editor, Lee Rich - Executive Producer, Merv Adelson - Executive Producer, Henry Mancini - Composer (Music Score), Rolf Zehetbauer - Production Designer, John Alcott - Cinematographer, William Aldrich - Producer, Merv Adelson - Producer, Peter Stone - Screenwriter, Ivan Lyons - Book Author, Nan Lyons - Book Author
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? is a 1978 comedy mystery film starring George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, and Robert Morley. It was based on a novel entitled Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe by Nan and Ivan Lyons. Each chef is killed in the manner of his most famous dish (The lobster chef, for example, is drowned) and in the book the recipe for each dish is given. The film was co-produced by the U.S.A., Italy, France and West Germany. It was released in the UK under the title Too Many Chefs.
The film was originally distributed by Warner Bros., but the film was produced by Lorimar, which owned all rights to the film up until the studio was acquired by Warner Communications in 1989. Now, Warner again owns the rights to the film.
Natasha O'Brien (Jacqueline Bisset) is a celebrated pastry chef invited to London to assist in preparing a state dinner for the Queen organized by her sometime benefactor, Max (Robert Morley). Natasha's ex-husband, Robby (George Segal) is a fast food entrepreneur ("the Taco King") serving the "everyman" consumer while she caters to the affluent. Max is the "calamitously fat" grand gourmand publisher of a gourmet magazine and patron of several famous European chefs, each renowned for a signature dish. When Natasha arrives in London he's gloating over his latest issue featuring "the world's most fabulous meal" which highlights the culinary masterpieces of his favorite chefs. However, Max's health is failing from an addiction to those chefs' specialties. Mysteriously, each chef is murdered, killed in the manner of his most famous dish (e.g., the lobster chef is drowned in a tank of lobsters). The murderer turns out to be Max's dedicated "jill-of-all-trades," motivated to kill the chefs in a vain attempt to keep Max on his severe diet by removing the focus of his addiction. Eventually, Robby realizes his ex-wife is the last on the list, and her signature dish is a dessert: "Le' Bombe Richelieu."
