Les époux scandaleux (1935) review - A cute, dusty French comedy

If you have eighty minutes to spare and love dusty old French comedies, Les époux scandaleux is a pretty fun watch today. It is perfect for anyone who likes cozy romance tropes like "fake marriage" but will definitely bore you if you need fast pacing or crisp modern sound.

The plot is very simple. Albert and Roberta get married just to escape their incredibly loud, annoying families.

Honestly, the families are so grating in the first ten minutes of the film that I wanted to run away with the main characters too. 🏃‍♂️

But then their car runs out of gas near a snowy mountain hotel. This is the most convenient movie trope ever, but it works.

Suddenly they have to share a room and realize, *hey, you are actually kind of cute*.

Suzy Vernon is great as Roberta. She has this amazing death-stare she gives Albert whenever he says something stupid.

René Lefèvre plays Albert like a guy who accidentally walked onto the wrong movie set. It is a weird performance but somehow it works perfectly.

There is a scene where they try to eat dinner and the hotel staff is just staring at them. It goes on a bit too long and the silence gets awkward, but it made me laugh anyway.

The writing is co-done by Charles Spaak, who did much heavier stuff like the 1935 version of Crime and Punishment. You can tell he had fun just writing silly arguments here instead of gloomy drama.

The ending is super predictable. But honestly, who cares?

It is just a cozy, slightly creaky black-and-white comedy that makes you want to drink hot cocoa. ☕

Some of the side characters disappear for huge chunks of the film, which feels a bit lazy. The edit just cuts them out and never explains where they went.

Also, the music is sometimes way too loud, almost drowning out the actors during the emotional scenes.

But if you can find a copy with decent subtitles, give it a go on a rainy Sunday afternoon.