Frenchy Reacts to Allo Allo - Officer Crabtree

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

If you ride this commment, thank you for pissing by!

[@darrylglynn1557]

I enjood this reaction. It was vorry god. Next tim I am pissing by, I will poop in to witch another vodeoo woth you.

[@Jamienomore]

I thought this was the funniest, best written Comedies. The Acting was brilliant. Have a good nit.

[@silverwolf3745]

I hip your Bran hasn't malted after thus.

[@Sapphos_daughter]

🤣😂🤣

[@AussiePom]

Witching yee trying to get your hod around whit he was sooing was a joy to witch. I shall now pass off good lick tee yee.

[@papalaz4444244]

"I was pissing by the door when I heard a shit." That is basically the entire character. A meme lol

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

His French is truly inspiring 😂

[@markwalker2627]

Funny thing is the guy playing crabtree is actually fluent in French (IRL)

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

That's the most disturbing thing about him 😅

[@markwolstenholme3354]

I'm enjoying your reactions to Allo Allo. I'm an Englishman who back in the 1970s enjoyed an exchange experience at school with my home town Bolton and Le Mans in France. Our two families became great friends and all of my family visited my Le Mans family and they all visited Bolton on a number of occasions. My late sister (killed in a hit and run incident 2016 by a drugged up illegal driver) had a short relationship with a French guy (met him years before on the exchange) in 1989 when he visited Bolton and I have a nephew from the brief encounter. It's great as we are all so close and see each other often.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you for this story (and very very sorry about your sister). I feel like when I talk about Allo Allo it brings back lots of slices of life, and memories, and that's very touching for me. All the best from Lyon

[@markwolstenholme3354]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn ❤

[@seniorslaphead8336]

I do like that when they speak "English" they ham it up as much as any of the other accents. This show was an equal opportunities piss-take. I say, jolly good show what what!

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

The Italians and Germans are something else too! I have the impression that the French are the most spared in this show. Thank you!

[@stewedfishproductions9554]

@@seniorslaphead8336 Chocks away and pip pip, old chap.. .... 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@BulldogMack700rs]

Officer Crabtrees accent was based on former Prime Minister Edward Heath who despite knowing how to speak French insisted on speaking it in an English accent for which he was ridiculed by the press on both sides of the channel

[@frglee]

Ah yes, who can forget Heath's immortal: "chur swee tray huh-ruh dett ra on Fronss, Set an jaw historike por Onglatare et Fronss!" 😀

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

I've tried to find a clip of him talking, but to no avail... On the other hand, the first comment under the video of his visit to France is: "good moaning" 😂Thank you

[@junglers]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn The clip used to be on youtube but has been removed for some reason. Anyway, it's in the this documentary about Heath. At around 36 minutes.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXPSZ5StiJZ3iLc

[@lesleygore5106]

I was brought up with this treasure of British comedy. All through the 80s & 90s, this is how Brits said hello. Still got it on box set. ❤

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Every time I post these reactions it brings back lots of memories that people share with me in the comments, and I love it!

[@stewedfishproductions9554]

Nice to see a Frenchman seeing Allo Allo... Have watched Officer Crabtree, the first two episodes and just subscribed. Glad you find the series amusing. 👍👍👍😊

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you :) It was funny to review

[@cliffordwaterton3543]

Well done for sticking with it to the end - I think you'd probably had enough by the 6 minute mark. I know the humour is pretty basic but it still makes me laugh and brings back great memories of watching this either with my partner of the time or my parents.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

From the 5th minute I think I was in the 6th dimension 😂

[@frglee]

I would love to hear how 'Officer Crabtree' was dubbed into French for the French tv version. The translators must have had to have been very inventive! I hope this clever dramatic device was somehow maintained in translation.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

I would be afraid of being disappointed... But it must have been extremely hard to translate while still maintaining the comic effect!

[@Paul_Allaker8450]

This must be very hard for you to follow, but for me I can't stop laughing! I used to watch this with my late Father back in the 80s and this has brought back so many good memories. 😂😂

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

At some point I felt like I was entering the 4th dimension. Anyway good moaning to you!

[@Paul_Allaker8450]

@ToonStory-fh4gn Good ovoning to you Fronchy. 😉

[@mojokg13]

Never thought id see a french person reacting to this character, i almost pissed out laughing 🤭

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Oooh I'm glued you lacked it!

[@Stuart_Cox1969]

The closest I got to French was the old french insult of "Your Mother was a hamster and your Father smells of Elderberries", apparently it's from a 1000 years ago.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Ohhhh, I see where you're going with this... hehehe

[@totallybored5526]

How do you know my parents? And for how long? I’m kinda worried 😢

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

😅

[@Jagaroth_]

In case you weren't sure, Officer Crabtree is a British agent undercover as a French policeman. He thinks it's a brilliant disguise and that speaking French is merely a matter of changing the sound of vowels in English words. So 'passing' becomes 'pissing' and 'good morning' becomes 'good moaning' etc. Funnily enough the actor Arthur Bostrom who plays him speaks fluent French. Crabtree can be heard speaking normal English to the two British airmen hiding in Rene's cafe. Much like Michelle Dubois, the French resistance leader does. Edit...ah, I see you knew about Bostrom. That'll teach me for commenting before the end of your video.

[@BulldogMack700rs]

The accent was based on politician Edward Heath who was fluent in French but insisted on speaking it in an English accent

[@Jagaroth_]

@@BulldogMack700rs Interesting. Sounds a bit like my dad. Not in speaking French fluently, but in pronouncing words and phrases of French origin with an English accent. More Del Boy, without the London accent.😂

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Anyway thank you for taking the time to share this with me :) All the best from Lyon

[@MalevEvans-dw3do]

The mispronounced vowels conveys his speaking French poorly

[@geemo4284]

All the British characters are also supposed to reflect the stereotype (mostly true) that the British are useless at other languages

[@stevesoutar3405]

franglais at it's finest

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Ouh yeah!

[@dingodelta]

"I think his French is pretty salad"......I see what you did there 😂

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

I tried to get into the ring with him. I lasted 2 seconds.

[@stevenlagoe7808]

My favourite Crabtree moment is when someone fired a gun in Renee's Cafe. Crabtree burst it and said: 'Woot is hoppening? I was just pissing and I heard a shit!' (...passing and I heard a shot...) One of the actors playing a Nazi starts laughing, but corrects himself quickly. 😆

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

There must have been a lot of uncontrolled laughter during filming!

[@stevenlagoe7808]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn Well, I'm sure I read somewhere that Arthur Bostrom, the actor playing Crabtree, was responsible for composing most of the mispronunciations, and the first time the rest of the cast heard them was during filming... Can you imagine?? 😅

[@StefanTravis]

As an EFL teacher, I used to use 'Allo 'Allo in teaching english to german students. They *loved* Herr Flick, but I didn't have to courage to ask them to decode Officer Crabtree.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

You would have required an Enigma machine to properly decode him!

[@Glynnwilliamson]

the writers of the show said the reason the police officer speaks like that is to show how french sounds to french people when being spoken to by an english person who speaks really bad french.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

All this gives me a huge headache 😅

[@ksnf]

Very funny and you are such a good sport. I hope your channel does really well.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you so much!

[@MichaelHepworth-f2g]

Howling! 😂😂😂 i was learnt French at school but yer i imagine i sounded terrible to French people when i 1st went to Paris lol

[@bigvanvader8365]

You obviously wasn’t learnt English much good either.

[@MichaelHepworth-f2g]

@@bigvanvader8365 lol i agree

[@mattsmith5421]

​@@bigvanvader8365 Lol

[@mattsmith5421]

​@@MichaelHepworth-f2g I was taught or I learnt.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

We love English people who speak French, even if they make mistakes and have an accent: we think it's adorable!

[@gordonjenkins8171]

It's good to see a Frenchman can see the fun in this. I love to visit France and have some good friends there

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

It's hilarious! Glad you enjoy your time in France, meilleures salutations 😃

[@gordonjenkins8171]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn try Ain't half hot mum, just as funny

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

@@gordonjenkins8171 thanks, I'll investigate that too!

[@davidsweeney4021]

I believe the British have a reputation of speaking French badly in France and that is the joke.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

I don't really have this reputation in mind, apart from the fact that few people speak French because it's not a very widespread language. Thank you!

[@coot1925]

I have no idea how you're understanding this. It's neither English or French but it's bloody funny and a complete farce. Anyway, good moaning monsieur.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Good moaning to you too! I think I understood about 30% of the video before my brain raised the white flag.

[@777petew]

Thank you. I am hippy that you gut the juke. My French is often corrected when I lapse into default English pronunciations. These sketches illustrate it beautifully, although with deliberate comedy. It is sympathetic to the French people, as well as making us all laugh.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Good moaning! Personally what I like best about this character is that if you take away the fact that he's stuck with his "bad" French, he's the most normal and smart of all! And indeed he appears very very sympathetic for me!

[@robertguttman1487]

As George Bernard Shaw once observed, “The French don’t care what you say so long as you pronounce it. Correctly”.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." is the most French stuff I think he ever said

[@pamforrester844]

Oh my, I love this, can't believe I'm just now discovering this gem here, loving officer Crabtree, this is old school smart, play on words comedy that I love. Glad no one can see me, I look probably crazy sitting hear laughing almost with tears in my eyes, I may end up in a padded cell haha. I'll at least try not to say good moaning to the employer. Thank you for another lunchtime break from the frozen tundra of the states.

[@ajivins1]

I'm not sure, but I think like MASH this went on longer than the actual war it was set during! You should try to find an episode of the BBC's 'Secret Army' show if you are about to embark on this as it might give you some context...

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

hahaha good luck getting serious again this afternoon! Thank you so much again for this kind comment!

[@jacksmith4460]

Crabtree is English and he is meant to be an Englishmen speaking French very badly , his character is totally mocking the UK, as you rightly gather, it's a very cool way to do it. I mean, the UK generally sucks at French, Many in the UK know far more French words than they realise, but our accent is far worse than we usually realise :D My parents live in France , they are from the UK, and my Mother speaks French quite well and has an ok accent, but myself and my Dad, we can say the words but it feels so clunky. Our accent is bad and we both find it quite distracting when trying to speak to local people. I guess it feels the same in the reverse of course. Many of the words in English are from French, those tend to be the easiest words for us to learn, because they usually are so close in sound and meaning, but they also demonstrate the huge difference in vowel and consonant sounds. A lot of English words are French words with a scandinavian germanic mix of sounds. I feel like English is more angular and sharp sounding, and French has more focus on vowels and flows threw them. I always wonder how it feels coming the other way as a French person hearing English and speaking it etc

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

In fact, an Englishman speaking French with an accent and making mistakes is very nice and authentic. In any case, as soon as someone makes the effort to speak in another language, it's bound to be well received (unless, of course, you've got a complete idiot in front of you). And it's normal for some of it to be more difficult because, as you quite rightly said, many words have common origins, but we also have others inherited from all parts of the Mediterranean... Thank you for your comment!

[@PUNKinDRUBLIC72]

This went over my head when I was younger, I didn't realise the English speaking were French and the bad French were English. Very clever at the time! Next woke,😂😂😂😂😂

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

hehehe

[@williambilly3269]

Great channel an good sense of humour mate👍 respect from Liverpool.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thanks mate, greetings from Lyon!

[@WinstonSmith19847]

Crabtee is the reason my theatre group did Cyrano de Bergerac with English accents there was a risk some people might have sounded like him. Crabtree is every English person doing a bad French accent ever.

[@kerethmakura4502]

Wet's the Probloom? He spooks Fronch Effluently.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

His frinch is fantitstic

[@AngelaVara-i4l]

I loved watching this.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

That was very funny for me too! Thank you

[@simonrobinson1566]

Loved the reaction.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you!

[@MrSporkster]

This guy's deadpan is incredible. I'd love to see the outtakes!

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

😅😅😅

[@Agui007]

Brits, French, Germans and Italians all get taking the piss out from this comedy which I grew up with 😂😂

[@JennieShaw-b2i]

They are not laughing at the French or their language but rather themsleves.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Yes of course, that's why it's funny! And every nations look stupid in this show which is very cool

[@malcomflibbleghast8140]

dad and i still say good moaning to each other....

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Good moaning to both of you!

[@derkhart6019]

So funny,is there an out takes version lol.i watched this years ago,very funny,I think it's a show as well,anyway loved this video my friend.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you, I'm glued you enjoyed it!

[@derkhart6019]

My treasure lol.

[@davidpaterson2309]

One of the great things about “‘Allo, ‘Allo” was that it unashamedly caricatured ALL of the stereotypes of the different Europeans - including the British - the “posh but dim” airmen hidden upstairs, Crabtree’s atrocious French etc. The Crabtree jokes are so much better for the alternately bemused and exasperated look on Renee’s face.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Yes, it was Crabtree who made me realise René's true role: he points out the absurdity of the situations and people he's dealing with. And that includes all the European nationalities, which is a real treat!

[@WinstonSmith-yy8qs]

We used to watch him in French, it was to show that my may know the French words but not the pronunciation.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

So French people translating into English with a weird accent, perfectly bilingual English people speaking English with a weird French accent... It's to complicated for me!

[@stevenlagoe7808]

"Born in Nipples". I like it! Tres bien! 👍👍

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

haha merci beaucoup!

[@gilledwards9302]

In the 1970s a duo known as "The Two Ronnies" were very popular on British TV with their plays on words. You might find them entertaining.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thanks, I'll have a look!

[@paulsnoding]

Arthur Bostrom, who played Officer Crabtree, was actually fluent in French and has suggested he found it quite difficult sometimes to pronounce his Franglais words as written. Edit: Word error

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

This is the funniest part: his French is perfect!

[@panther7748]

I love how they dealt with the problem of different languages by using accents. Please do Lieutenant Gruber and Captain Bertorelli as well, they are hilarious.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you very much, why not! I'm going to take a look at these two characters!

[@peterbuckby7319]

Brilliant

[@mkrmkr3805]

Fair play mate, you have a lot of patience. Encore. 👏

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thanks a lot! I need to recover and get back to it!

[@paulhadfield7909]

i was once on a train in france chatting with an americani had met, when a french lady interupted us and said' your both speaking' english?' she was confused as our accents were so different form each other, lol

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

haha One night at a party I found myself drinking a beer with a Scotsman, an Irishman and an Australian. I didn't understand a word of it and kept my nose buried in my pint.

[@boqndimitrov8693]

he is from the mountains! 😂😂😂😂

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

😂

[@nobodysbusiness566]

You sound just like Cabtree lol, you have a very similar voice, I thought the video was playing but frozen due to lag, as I saw him on the screen but you were speaking. haha

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

haha thank you :)

[@paulbromley6687]

See you av ipruvd weeth yowr anglish by wutching mawr Allo,Allo

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Funk you I oooopreciate it!

[@jeanneale9257]

Peace love from England ❤

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

All the best from France ❤

[@carlashdown6580]

Smashing! Have a noise day 🤣👍

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Oh sank you! Have a noise day true😀

[@TigerDan925]

Should we have a poke lol. I guess he meant peek.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you, my cognitive capacity was exceeded at this point!

[@aranerem5569]

It is great

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you 😃

[@BrianM0OAB]

I soo you have meat officer Crabtree, he is sooch a dolight, his French is amozing.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Yes I ave mate his acooountance he is such a noise feloooo

[@artomatt]

I think he pronounced "hours" in two different ways. I wonder how much of his lines were written out with the mispronunciations.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

I must have missed that, my brain froze at a moment... Thank you!

[@AussiePom]

Have you heard of Nancy Wake the Australian/New Zealander who worked for the Marquis in occupied France.

[@aranerem5569]

Have you seen Tarzan The Fearless?

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

I must confess I have never heard about it... Is it good?

[@aranerem5569]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn I enjoyed it

[@Ingens_Scherz]

Horribly anxious and apprehensive though I once was, I now look forward to these Allo Allo "reactions" because I have, obviously, somehow travelled through the cheese trauma and the total cultural exposure here, with the deep, concomitant, inevitable, humiliating exposure, and gone quite mad. Ha ha, what what! And so has my dear old mother. But I think she's been fairly mad ever since she was unlucky enough to have been born in the middle of a global genocidal war. Just bad luck, I suppose. (But she bloody loves you mate. Go figure ;)

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you for sharing, comrade, and I send you both my sincerest greetings 😅

[@Ingens_Scherz]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn 😊😊

[@MilanousMedia]

This type of speaking i believe comes from English people struggling with vowels in the French language so if you notice the words he mispronounces all use the wrong vowels

[@mrsiborg]

Good moaning, I ave been woatching the voodeo and I leeve it! 😆

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Oh I am glued you lacked it!

[@midnightzathras6870]

Traduire l’anglais anglais en français, puis l’anglais pigeon crabtrees en français a dû vous faire mal au cerveau. Heureusement, il n’apparaît que quelques minutes dans chaque spectacle

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

C'était un exercice pour lequel je n'étais pas prêt en effet ! Merci :)

[@knightspearhead5718]

Good example of why you should always properly learn a language before visiting a country :P

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

On the other hand, it makes the experience even more intense!

[@knightspearhead5718]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn more silly* :P

[@777petew]

Do you love Rene's reactions? I do.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

I like René, and I have the impression that his character is mainly used to make the others even funnier (especially Crabtree). To make a football analogy, it would be the box-to-box who runs a lot to make the team better, but I haven't seen everything of course so I might be wrong too!

[@777petew]

@@ToonStory-fh4gn Yes, he is the only one there with brains, and the stress tells on him very often. 🙂 I love how you get the comedy, and I can't stress that enough.

[@Europeanfriends]

Tonk you

[@jamesohara4295]

They took it too far with the French Copper :(

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

We don't understand French cops too!

[@johnhood3172]

I love France, but like Britain shame about the government, you want to see only fools and horses British comedy with Del Boy and his silly French sayings .

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Thank you, I didn't know this show! As for the government: there's a reason why I've given up following my country's politics.

[@777petew]

Would you mind giving Officer Crabtree some lessons in French? It sounds really bad.

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

With our two accents combined, I think it could create a chain reaction and create a giant black hole that would suck in the universe!

[@stirlingmoss4621]

#2 bon jour. ca va, ca va?

[@ToonStory-fh4gn]

Bonjour ! Ca va et toi ?

[@stirlingmoss4621]

@@ToonStory-fh4gnmoi aussi merci. Tout va bien sauf pour la pluie