I know, Marcel Carné is a genius of a filmmaker, the actors in the film are the cream-de-la-cream of French cinema of the 30s an onward, BUT - this film here lacks so much of a coherent storyline that I dropped out about 3/4 of the way.<br /><br />In my humble opinion, a film first and foremost should be intelligent in what it tries to tell. Film-making is storytelling. Art-pour-l'art is a pretentious pose. Hiding a week storyline behind "artful" filming is a shame.<br /><br />The great Marcel Carné obviously made better films than this one. Quai de Brumes, made just one year later (in 1938) is a stand-out example and small wonder it is unforgettable even today. Nobody can ever forget Jean Gabin's both subdued and passionate acting.<br /><br />Here, in Drole de Drame, we have great actors going wild until everything gets absolutely out of control. The classic screwball comedy of a type never seen before in French cinema (and, possibly, never after). The whole is overdone, unfortunately. This makes you cringe and lose interest.