def SafeFormatMessage( eventLogRecord, logType=None ):
    if logType is None: logType = "Application"
    try:
        return FormatMessage(eventLogRecord, logType)
    except win32api.error:
        if eventLogRecord.StringInserts is None:
            desc = ""
        else:
            desc = u", ".join(eventLogRecord.StringInserts)
        return u"<The description for Event ID ( %d ) in Source ( %r ) could not be found. It contains the following insertion string(s):%r.>" % (winerror.HRESULT_CODE(eventLogRecord.EventID), eventLogRecord.SourceName, desc)
As for FormatMessage, except returns an error message if
dataset/ETHPy150Open deanhiller/databus/webapp/play1.3.x/python/Lib/site-packages/win32/lib/win32evtlogutil.py/SafeFormatMessage