Alegre Bandido

The plot is roughly the same as the silent version ,"Jim La Houlette,Roi Des Voleurs".

"Philibert Bretonneau signs novels which are actually written by Moluchet, his secretary, secretly in love with Bretonneau's charming wife, Pauline... One day, Jim la Houlette, the king of thieves, resurfaces in France(...) Bretonneau's publisher, has an idea : to simulate the theft of a manuscript by Jim la Houlette, in fact by Moluchet posing as the criminal. But Moluchet, confronted by the real Jim, lets him run away and is arrested..(GUY BELLINGER)

A Fernandel vehicle, the scene of the trial ,in which Fernandel fights against ...his own lawyer (in order to win Pauline's love) is close to that of "Ne Le Criez Pas Sur Les Toits "(1942);the mysterious "Jim La Houlette " is in the grand tradition of Arsene Lupin and Rocambole ,the gentlemen -housebreakers,you probably won't guess his identity till Moluchet's escape .The ghost writer subject is still relevant today . The exploiter's trial ,in front of the underworld ,is ,relatively speaking,Lang's "M" turned comedy.

Marguerite Moreno's testimony ,full of subjunctive imperfects, is a true delight .

A pleasant comedy.