La Vache et le Prisonnier (English version: "The Cow and I") is a French-Italian tragicomedy film from 1959, starring Fernandel and directed by Henri Verneuil, that is based on Jacques Antoine's 1945 novel, Une histoire vraie (A True Story).

[1][circular reference] Charles Bailly, a French prisoner of war in Germany in the summer of 1943, decides to escape from the farm where he is forced to work and go home to France.

Observing that a man with a cow and a milk pail passes unnoticed in the Bavarian countryside, his plan is to take one (whom he names Marguerite) and to walk with her to Stuttgart, where he will leave her and hide aboard a train for France.

Analysing its enduring popularity, a critic in 2017 wrote that the character created by Fernandel embodies: .. the typical Frenchman, in his stubbornness, resourcefulness and humanity.

[4]: 3 In 2018, Variety reported that an English-language remake would begin development in the fall of that year, with Marc Forster directing, Ewan McGregor starring, and Bill Prady writing.