Jim la houlette

Louis Florencie is a rich man who writes romance novels. To be more accurate, he has his secretary, Fernandel, write them, and publishes them under his own name. But romances are out and policiers are in, so he orders Fernandel to write one in a day. For publicity, he has Fernandel rob his study dressed as famous gangster Jim La Houlette. But while Fernandel is doing so, the real Jim shows up, steals everything, and in the hubbub, Fernandel is apprehended and goes on trial for the long string of Jim's crimes.

It's a remake of a 1926 movie written by and starring Nicholas Rimsky. Fernandel is fine as the put-upon secretary, who is in love with Florencie's bored wife, Mireille Perrey, with whom he is carrying on an illicit correspondence. He plays the role mostly straight, with a lugubrious air of confusion as the real Jim first gets him in trouble and then rescues him to produce a bizarrely just ending. Ably directed by comedy specialist André Berthomieu, it has few laugh-out-loud moments, but relies of Fernandel's abilities as a straight actor. Still, there is a trial of Florencie and Mlle Perrey that looks like a burlesque of the trial-by-crooks in Fritz Lang's M.