Gérard Jugnot was a true scout in the sixties ,that's probably why he located his film in 1965 (even if the year were not mentioned at the beginning of terms, the comics the scouts read, the tubes of condensed milk and the fact that WW2 was not that much behind would be signs of the time ;it's his madeleine de Proust .

It begins with "le chant de la promesse" ,a classic of the scouts song catalogue and it's a pity they did not use more songs ,for there are plenty of them.

Gérard Jugnot is indisputably one of the best comic actors in France .In his chef scout uniform,he looks like a grown up kid,which he is: under an overpossessive mom's thumb who insists he take his suppository for the camp ,his adventure with his scouts looks like a rite of passage to adulthood : his boys laugh behind his back and the worst humiliation is to hear one of them read his mummy's letter.

Unfortunately the really funny gags are few and far between ;it's sometimes heavy-handed and does not avoid clichés :a caricature of a gay for instance. The game (the scouts' games are often exciting :see for that matter some books of the scout lit in the "signe de piste" books collection .) is only a way to get rid of the burdensome boys ;the 30 km (=18 miles ) treasure hunt is a pretext to make the scoutmaster a man.

Pleasant ,but sometimes ponderous.

This movie illustrates well what a scoutmaster goes through during a scout camp. His efforts are rarely seen and appreciated enough by the community, or the scouts themselves. This work is an appreciation to those who volunteer and dedicate part of their time/life to raise better generations, and make the world a better place.

It is so deep and authentic that I can tell the producer has been a Scout at some point of his life... It reminds me a bit of the Police Academy Series, but in a cuter, unique style. The movie's original language is French, I'm not sure if an English version is available.

Salute to all Scoutmasters all over the world! :)