Drummer-Crab
6.9
"Le Crabe Tambour" ("Drummer Crab") is the nickname for the mysterious central character, Willsdorff (Jacques Perrin), an Alsatian, whose doomed, out-of-date career is recalled through the tales of three naval officers currently serving aboard a French supply ship in the North Atlantic.
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Cast
22 people
Jean Rochefort
Captain, commander of the escort ship
Known for
Mr. Bean's Holiday
The Count of Monte Cristo
Claude Rich
Pierre, medical officer
Known for
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra
Oscar
Jacques Perrin
Lieutenant Willsdorff, 'Le Crabe-Tambour'
Known for
Cinema Paradiso
Donkey Skin
Aurore Clément
Aurore, nurse in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
Known for
Paris, Texas
Maigret
Odile Versois
The wife at the bistro of the former gendarme
Known for
Cartouche
Pierre Rousseau
Babourg, former sailor
Known for
The Burned Barns
Jacques Dufilho
Chief mechanic
Known for
War of the Buttons
Nosferatu the Vampyre
François Dyrek
Former gendarme, boss of the bistro
Known for
A Pain in the Ass
Hothead
Jean Champion
Admiral Dönitz's admirer at the bistro
Known for
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Day for Night
Bernard Lajarrige
Rector
Known for
La Traversée de Paris
Les Dames du bois de Boulogne
Joseph Momo
Bongo-Ba
Known for
La Haine
The African
Yves Morgan-Jones
Ensign
Known for
The Desert of the Tartars
Pierre Schoendoerffer Director · Jean-François Chauvel Screenplay Philippe Sarde Composer
Worldwide gross $9.1M · First release November 9, 1977 · Produced in France
Box office
Worldwide gross
$9,100,000
Production
AMLF
Production
Bela Productions
Production
Lira Films
Production
Renn Productions
Production
TF1
Production
France
Produced in
Languages
Original title
Le Crabe-Tambour
Original language
French
Spoken on screen
French
Release dates
France · November 9, 1977
Theatrical
No release date listed for United States.
France
October 24, 2025 · TV · France•5
More from Pierre Schoendoerffer
Other films they directed, best known first.
Some details come from TheTVDB.