AllMovie

The first of actor- writer-director Sacha Guitry's four 1936 productions was Nouveau Testament (New Testament), in which he wrote himself the meaty role of Jean Marcelin. Based on Guitry's own stage play, the story concerns a sanctimonious fellow who eventually is victimized by his own hypocrisy. Little effort is made to "cinematize" the property, which is filmed just as it appeared on stage. Audiences didn't seem to mind, and in fact some of them were known to applaud each of Guitry's bon mots as if they were attending a live performance. Nouveau Testament was entertaining enough, but would be eclipsed within a few months by Guitry's best 1936 effort, Story of a Cheat.