A highly esteemed mix between crazy comedy (and with a frankness in the sexual allusions unthinkable in Hollywood at the time) and crime mystery, based on a novel by Stanislas-Andre Steeman (also screenwriter) shot during the French occupation with some of the greats names and regulars of French cinema of the time and under the direction of the almost always very interesting Clouzot.
It is a light cinema, promoted by the occupation forces to replace American cinema in years of prohibition. The producer was the notorious Continental.
From the very beginning Clouzot creates a funny, playfully threatening atmosphere, thanks to an ever-witty script and brilliant sets and an efficient and inventive camera work.
Pierre Fresnay turns out to be a clever and humorous detective, and Suzy Delair a perhaps too willfully zany aspiring singer, and the two show a welcome ability to not take themselves too seriously. Well...Delair can be somewhat annoying now and then.
The resolution of the mystery doesn't disappoint within the fun and unbelievable premise of the film and there are quite a few brilliant scenes.
The rest of the cast is perfect.
Clouzot even manages to sneak in a very clear joke at the expense of the Nazis (very similar to the one that Saura will sneak in in a much less dangerous and easier way in Cousin Angelica and which will earn him so much applause). For the rest, Clouzot seems to have been an unbearable and violent person who could slap his actresses knowing that no one was going to be able to complain, but anyway his films are among the most interesting in the period.
Highly recommended for fans of detective stories, Parisian boarding houses with eccentric characters, a detective couple that mixes the professional and the amateur, several surprising murders, and light and unpretentious cinema.
It is a light cinema, promoted by the occupation forces to replace American cinema in years of prohibition. The producer was the notorious Continental.
From the very beginning Clouzot creates a funny, playfully threatening atmosphere, thanks to an ever-witty script and brilliant sets and an efficient and inventive camera work.
Pierre Fresnay turns out to be a clever and humorous detective, and Suzy Delair a perhaps too willfully zany aspiring singer, and the two show a welcome ability to not take themselves too seriously. Well...Delair can be somewhat annoying now and then.
The resolution of the mystery doesn't disappoint within the fun and unbelievable premise of the film and there are quite a few brilliant scenes.
The rest of the cast is perfect.
Clouzot even manages to sneak in a very clear joke at the expense of the Nazis (very similar to the one that Saura will sneak in in a much less dangerous and easier way in Cousin Angelica and which will earn him so much applause). For the rest, Clouzot seems to have been an unbearable and violent person who could slap his actresses knowing that no one was going to be able to complain, but anyway his films are among the most interesting in the period.
Highly recommended for fans of detective stories, Parisian boarding houses with eccentric characters, a detective couple that mixes the professional and the amateur, several surprising murders, and light and unpretentious cinema.