Near which port city was the film "Monsieur Hulot's Holiday" shot?

"Les Vacances de M. Hulot" (the title used in France) is a beguiling 1953 comedy film by Jacques Tati. Its focus is on the misadventures of the lovable, gauche Monsieur Hulot (played by Tati himself) as he joins the holiday-taking classes for a summer vacation at a modest seaside resort.

The atmosphere is reminiscent of a Charlie Chaplin film. “Les Vacances” is not a silent film, but most of the dialogue is limited to the role of background sounds. Combined with long shots of scenes with multiple characters, Tati believed that the results would focus audience attention on the comical nature of humanity.

The film was shot in Saint-Marc-sur-Mer, a town near the port of Saint-Nazaire on the west coast of France. Tati had fallen in love with the beguiling coastline while staying near there before World War II and resolved to return to make a film. Tati and his crew turned up in the summer of 1951, took over the town and then presented it to the world as the quintessence of French middle-class life as it rediscovered its rituals after the War. Saint-Marc was ideal: a sheltered inlet, with a graceful curve of sand, it had a beach hotel on which the main action could be centred. Beach huts, windbreaks, fishing boats and rocky outcrops complete the idyllic picture.

A bronze statue of Hulot was later erected in Saint-Marc-sur-Mer, overlooking the beach where the film was made. You can stay in Hulot’s hotel! The Hôtel de la Plage (pictured) is now run by Best Western Hotels.