Drole de Dame

In Drole de Dame, also called "Bizarre, Bizarre," Director Marcel Carne dashes across the scene on his bicycle, gaily splashing mud on every English social cliche available. The hypocrite vicar, upstart servants and Scotland Yard all are thrown in to comment on the pitifully high state of English morals. Carne wraps stolid England up in a ball with one final commentary--the man in a hanging-mob who holds his child's hand with the greatest of social responsibility.

The plot of "Bizarre, Bizarre" is built around a noted mystery-writer, who admits that he has no imagination, but writes for the sake of his pretentious wife. Just when the two most fear involvement in social disgrace and disinheritance (the bane of the English middle class), they become entangled with William Kramps, the Ripper and butcher of butchers. At this point, the rich aunt, who has a secretary-companion named Victory, appears on the scene, naturally.

While Carne may think he is spoofing the British, he unconsciously does almost as good a job on the French, for his detectives are extremely nonchalant and his lovers strangely enthusiastic. Jean-Lous Barrault (the butcher of butchers) crawls on his kness in his ecstatic quest of a married woman; and he, as well as Jean-Pierre Aumont, the milkman, display the irrespressible smile that refuses to take life seriously. Although Chief Inspector Bray could appear in almost any country, the snooping vicar, played by Louis Jouvet, is far too sharp and sly for the English countryside. The Molyneux, however, played by Francoise Rosay and Michel Simon do an extremely good caricature of threadbare social-climbing, although Simon achieves part of his success through a slight resemblance to Charles Laughton.

The Jacques Prevert script is well written, and the dialogue both mirrors and openly remarks on English "common sense." Old maxims are mixed--"Where there's an antidote, there's a poison"--and new ones made up--"Better a full beard than an empty pocket." There is much fear of scandal and it appears that there are a number of things that gentlemen don't do, although the gentlemen go ahead and do them anyway, in as clumsy fashion as possible. The costuming, which for some reason includes kilts, is appropriately ludicrous.

Drole de Dame is bizarre, and worth going to if you like to laugh at either the British or the French. There is Magoo, too.