Drôle de Drame (1937) review

Plot-heavy and busy - though fun - story about secrets and lies that spins out-of-control: a mimosa lover (Michel Simon) wants to keep his double life as a novelist very secret but he has a cousin who's a puritan who decries such 'filth' - eventually there are accusations of murder, which leads to local hysteria, newspaper headlines and the involvement of (the very dense) Scotland Yard. Psychological motivation takes second place to the endless unspooling plot - by Carné's longtime collaborator Jacques Prévert - which keeps it light and involving: how Simon wearing a fake beard can fool so many people is beyond me (or why an admitted serial killer is permitted to basically roam free), but hey, that's the cinema for you. The title translates to "Funny Drama," but the alternative title "Bizarre, Bizarre" is a good fit.