The French, They Are a Funny Race (French: Les Carnets du Major Thompson, lit. 'The Notebooks of Major Thompson'; released in the United Kingdom as The Diary of Major Thompson) is a 1955 French comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, based on the 1954 novel Les Carnets du Major Thompson by Pierre Daninos, and starring Martine Carol and Jack Buchanan. This was the last film directed by Sturges before his death in August 1959, as well as the final film appearance of Buchanan, who died in October 1957.