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Bizarre, Bizarre

Play trailer Bizarre, Bizarre 1937 1h 24m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Bishop Archibald Soper (Louis Jouvet) pops in for a chat with cousin Irwin Molyneux (Michel Simon). Like Irwin, his wife, Margaret (Francoise Rosay), dislikes Archibald, so makes herself scarce. Archibald is curious about what's become of Margaret, and Irwin -- a scientist whose work as a moonlighting mystery writer has sharpened his skills of imagination -- makes up an excuse to explain his wife's absence. But this leaves the paranoid bishop thinking that hsi cousin has murdered his wife.

Critics Reviews

View All (9) Critics Reviews
Time Out There are plenty of piquant absurdities. Feb 9, 2006 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Marcel Carne's direction is much too innately stodgy for this kind of free-form exercise, but it's enough, really, for him to simply train his camera on his enthusiastic cast. Jul 29, 2003 Full Review Caryn James New York Times [A] hilarious black comedy. Rated: 4/5 Jul 29, 2003 Full Review TV Guide Amusing French farce. Rated: 2/4 Jan 9, 2008 Full Review Mark Bourne DVDJournal.com ...an acerbic screwball satire aimed ostensibly at the English mania for detective fiction, though other targets too slow to get out of the way are the Anglican Church, Scotland Yard, and English elite society's preoccupation with reputation. Apr 6, 2006 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 4, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (6) audience reviews
william k This unusual and lively satire is a French attempt to do a British screwball comedy and successfully mocks hypocritical society; it's all entertaining due to its splendid cast, especially Michel Simon is a joy to watch. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Amusing little French film where all the English characters are played by French actors. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review walter m "Drole de Drame"("Bizarre Bizarre" is the American title) starts at a mostly empty meeting led by the Bishop of Bedford(Louis Jouvet) condemning the mystery novels written by Felix Chapel as immoral. William Kramps(Jean-Louis Barrault), a serial killer, simply wants to kill Chapel. That worries Irwin Molyneux(Michel Simon), a cousin of Bedford's, more than anything else since he is secretly Chapel. What worries his wife Margaret(Francoise Rosay) is her cook and butler finally quitting, forcing her to make dinner for that night's visit by the bishop. At least, Eva(Nadine Vogel), the young maid, has not quit which makes Billy(Jean-Pierre Aumont), the milkman, very happy. Margaret has to stay out of sight to complete the meal for which Irwin comes up with a weak excuse for. So, the bishop comes to the only rational conclusion that he can which is that Irwin killed his wife... Set in Victorian London, "Drole de Drame" is a breezy, silly and darkly funny farce about why some times too much milk can be a bad thing. Seriously, it is about social status, as Margaret worries too much about hers to come clean which leads to unforeseen consequences for everybody. Along these same lines, the characters have more than their share of hypocrisies, not just the wealthy, but also the mob. For example, Kramps is an animal lover and that while Bedford is a man of god and father of a very large family, he is also a fan of showgirls. All of this is accomplished without somehow resorting to caricature. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Part comedy of errors, part comedy of manners, it's brilliantly constructed. The situation becomes more and more ridiculous but never feels forced. Some beautiful camera work too. Michel Simon can be an annoying actor, but here he's perfect, as is the entire cast of memorable characters. I wouldn't say it was a knee-slapper, but it was all very clever and amusing. Still, like the other Carné films, although I was impressed with the work, it didn't truly grab hold of me. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member A merinque glasse of a farce, it's hilarious how Carne envisages his British setting. He is just too French to make it plausible, but the film is a delight. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member So drôle! Simon and Jouvet are amazing, and Jean-Louis Barrault, so young, so handsome, so adorable (and so naked, omg!). I definitely love Marcel Carné, for sure! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Bizarre, Bizarre

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Bishop Archibald Soper (Louis Jouvet) pops in for a chat with cousin Irwin Molyneux (Michel Simon). Like Irwin, his wife, Margaret (Francoise Rosay), dislikes Archibald, so makes herself scarce. Archibald is curious about what's become of Margaret, and Irwin -- a scientist whose work as a moonlighting mystery writer has sharpened his skills of imagination -- makes up an excuse to explain his wife's absence. But this leaves the paranoid bishop thinking that hsi cousin has murdered his wife.
Director
Marcel Carné
Production Co
Productions Corniglion-Molinier
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
Canadian French
Runtime
1h 24m