One of those excellent french films which were made initially to replace American movies whose import had been stopped by the Nazis, but still had a style of their own. Dandy actor Pierre Fresnay plays the part of the swift thinking, wisecracking police detective Monsieur Wens. The film also features lots of splendid actors of the 40's, such as Jean Tissier, with his irresistible drawl, as well as the suave André Luguet and young Suzy Delair who plays an extravagant girlfriend. It was adapted from a novel by belgian-born Stanislas-André Steeman, a prolific writer of detective stories with a touch of poetry, many of which were turned into atmospheric movies, such as "Quai des orfèvres" and "L'assassin habite au 21". The plot turns around six enterprising young friends who, having hit the jackpot, decide to divide it among themselves and set out to make fortune, each in his own particular way. They also make a youthful, romantic pact to meet again in five years time and share the fortune they hope to achieve. But when the time comes, they begin to be murdered one after the other
The imagery tends towards film noir; the oppressive atmosphere in Nazi-occupied France lends itself ideally to the aesthetics of film noir ; the whole country seems to be perpetually at night, in shadows or in fog and the film climax takes place in a labyrinthian quarry. In contrast, the dialogues are often witty and amusing, for instance when Monsieur Wens has a drink with a suspect in one of those smoky, underworld parisian café with jazzy accordeon music playing in the background : the detective casually inquires over the little ruffian's alibi through a colourful discussion over how the latter makes a living at the races. The pacing of the film is good, except for a lenghty cabaret sequence which is a mixture of moulin rouge (with some nudity daring for the time) and surreal reverie.
6 Reviews
Wordy and rather obvious but still quite entertaining
gridoon20247 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This early Clouzot script has an intriguing premise (similar to Julien Duvivier's earlier "Moon Over Morocco"), but the resolution is Whodunit 101; (vague spoilers) you have six people that may be targeted for elimination one-by-one, two are killed but their bodies are never found, two are killed and their bodies are found, two remain, whom do YOU suspect? The most interesting character is the quirky, humorous police inspector (Pierre Fresnay); he and his flighty girlfriend (Suzy Delair) re-appear in Clouzot's directorial debut, "The Assassin Lives At 21", made the following year. There are also some big-scale musical numbers which, although not in the league of Busby Berkeley, are quite bizarre in their own right. **1/2 out of 4.
And then there were......
brogmiller22 April 2021
The film company 'Continental' was formed and financed by the Third Reich with the intention of keeping French audiences sufficiently entertained to distract them from the minor annoyance of the German occupation. The thirty or so films that this studio produced during its four year run are of varying quality to say the least but there are a few gems, three of which involve Henri-Georges Clouzot and Pierre Fresnay.
Their first outing together is this adaptation of Stanislas André Steeman's 'Six hommes morts'. The 'credited' director here is the very capable Georges Lacombe although the mise-en-scene is untypical of his style. This, plus the German Expressionist shadows and chiaroscuro lighting would indicate that perhaps Clouzot contributed more than just the screenplay. What is certain is that Lacombe's contract with Continental was soon terminated, much to his relief.
This is the type of film that usually attracts the description 'style over substance'. Stylish it certainly is and played with esprit by all. The brilliant Pierre Fresnay is Inspector Wens and Suzy Delair is Mila Milou. Her character is extremely irritating and grates on the nerves but the chemistry between her and Fresnay is such that she becomes a perfect foil.
Great support here from the inimitable Jean Tissier and the fascinating Michele Alfa. Jean Chevrier does his best in a thankless role.
Personally speaking, the identity of the person who bumps off one character after another did not interest me in the slightest but the killer's comeuppance is imaginatively done. The highlights for me are the fabulous music hall scenes with superlative camerawork from Rene Le Febvre.
Clouzot went one better by directing his next film 'L'Assassin habite au 21', again based upon a Steeman novel in which Fresnay and Delair reprise their roles. The partnership of Clouzot/Fresnay looked to be set fair until the backlash that followed the release of 'Le Corbeau' practically scuppered both their careers. Both would resume of course but for Fresnay it seems, despite his gallant military service in WW1 and his superior talent, the stigma of 'alleged' collaboration with the Vichy regime would stay with him.
Their first outing together is this adaptation of Stanislas André Steeman's 'Six hommes morts'. The 'credited' director here is the very capable Georges Lacombe although the mise-en-scene is untypical of his style. This, plus the German Expressionist shadows and chiaroscuro lighting would indicate that perhaps Clouzot contributed more than just the screenplay. What is certain is that Lacombe's contract with Continental was soon terminated, much to his relief.
This is the type of film that usually attracts the description 'style over substance'. Stylish it certainly is and played with esprit by all. The brilliant Pierre Fresnay is Inspector Wens and Suzy Delair is Mila Milou. Her character is extremely irritating and grates on the nerves but the chemistry between her and Fresnay is such that she becomes a perfect foil.
Great support here from the inimitable Jean Tissier and the fascinating Michele Alfa. Jean Chevrier does his best in a thankless role.
Personally speaking, the identity of the person who bumps off one character after another did not interest me in the slightest but the killer's comeuppance is imaginatively done. The highlights for me are the fabulous music hall scenes with superlative camerawork from Rene Le Febvre.
Clouzot went one better by directing his next film 'L'Assassin habite au 21', again based upon a Steeman novel in which Fresnay and Delair reprise their roles. The partnership of Clouzot/Fresnay looked to be set fair until the backlash that followed the release of 'Le Corbeau' practically scuppered both their careers. Both would resume of course but for Fresnay it seems, despite his gallant military service in WW1 and his superior talent, the stigma of 'alleged' collaboration with the Vichy regime would stay with him.
"SIX DEAD MEN" version 3!
profh-131 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Just watched this for the 2nd time. A really fun, stylish mystery, with what appears a bigger budget than usually given US or UK crime films. Commissioner Wens steals the movie. With his sense of humor he'd have been a perfect fit on the NBC Mystery Movies.
Crazy but true: this was the 3rd film version of Steeman's "Six Dead Men", after "A STUDY IN SCARLET" (1933 / US) and "THE RIVERSIDE MURDER" (1935 / UK), a fact someone at the IMDB seems determined to ignore (I've tried adding the info TWICE). It's fun comparing the films, this one seems the most complex. (You didn't even see the underground tunnel in the UK film.)
I find myself wondering if the climax, where the killer sinks into quicksand, was in the novel-- and am trying to remember which version of Doyle's "HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES" first showed that onscreen.
Several reviewers have claimed this (or 1933's "A STUDY IN SCARLET") swiped from Christie's "TEN LITTLE INDIANS"-- but that book wasn't written until 1939, while Steeman's was in 1931! I'm not surprised, I've already seen multiple instances where Christie was swiping from Doyle... and Doyle more than once swiped from Poe! It goes like that.
I'm looking forward to trackng down any later Steeman-based films I can find.
Multiple sites list the film at 90 minutes; strangely, the "Rare Films And More" DVD-R clocks in at 1:21:39. I thought the movie seemed to running a bit FAST... tsk!
Addendum (12-26-2022) Just got ahold of the 2016 Gaumont Region 2 DVD. The restoration is STUNNING, crystal-clear picture & sound, and, YES, it's running at the correct speed (1:29:15). Gaumont has 2 versions out there-- the one with the red box is not restored, and has no English subtitles; the white box is restored, and HAS English subtitles. (This new version is also available on both DVD and Blu-Ray, but I only have a region-free DVD player, not a region-free Blu-Ray player, which is pricier.)
The disc also comes with a "making of" documentary, which includes a couple of brief interview clips of Suzy Delair, who decades later still had a stunning smile. There's also a number of before-and-after comparison shots of the restoration, and, a trailer, whose use of "6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" predicts the opening credits of "THUNDERBIRDS" by more than 2 decades. It's only a shame these features don't include English subtitles.
I really love this movie, and it's great to finally get a "proper" copy of it. (I just looked at the Rare Films & More copy, and as it happens, the picture on that, while not looking scratched or damaged, does look very "grainy", so the Gaumont restoration really is a huge improvement.)
Crazy but true: this was the 3rd film version of Steeman's "Six Dead Men", after "A STUDY IN SCARLET" (1933 / US) and "THE RIVERSIDE MURDER" (1935 / UK), a fact someone at the IMDB seems determined to ignore (I've tried adding the info TWICE). It's fun comparing the films, this one seems the most complex. (You didn't even see the underground tunnel in the UK film.)
I find myself wondering if the climax, where the killer sinks into quicksand, was in the novel-- and am trying to remember which version of Doyle's "HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES" first showed that onscreen.
Several reviewers have claimed this (or 1933's "A STUDY IN SCARLET") swiped from Christie's "TEN LITTLE INDIANS"-- but that book wasn't written until 1939, while Steeman's was in 1931! I'm not surprised, I've already seen multiple instances where Christie was swiping from Doyle... and Doyle more than once swiped from Poe! It goes like that.
I'm looking forward to trackng down any later Steeman-based films I can find.
Multiple sites list the film at 90 minutes; strangely, the "Rare Films And More" DVD-R clocks in at 1:21:39. I thought the movie seemed to running a bit FAST... tsk!
Addendum (12-26-2022) Just got ahold of the 2016 Gaumont Region 2 DVD. The restoration is STUNNING, crystal-clear picture & sound, and, YES, it's running at the correct speed (1:29:15). Gaumont has 2 versions out there-- the one with the red box is not restored, and has no English subtitles; the white box is restored, and HAS English subtitles. (This new version is also available on both DVD and Blu-Ray, but I only have a region-free DVD player, not a region-free Blu-Ray player, which is pricier.)
The disc also comes with a "making of" documentary, which includes a couple of brief interview clips of Suzy Delair, who decades later still had a stunning smile. There's also a number of before-and-after comparison shots of the restoration, and, a trailer, whose use of "6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" predicts the opening credits of "THUNDERBIRDS" by more than 2 decades. It's only a shame these features don't include English subtitles.
I really love this movie, and it's great to finally get a "proper" copy of it. (I just looked at the Rare Films & More copy, and as it happens, the picture on that, while not looking scratched or damaged, does look very "grainy", so the Gaumont restoration really is a huge improvement.)
Exciting French whodunit thriller.
dbdumonteil6 December 2001
It's a Georges Lacombe 's movie,but actually, it marks the birth of a giant of the French cinema:Henri-George Clouzot.Here credited "Georges Clouzot",he wrote the dialogue,and his wicked sarcastic humor occasionally surfaces.
From Belgian Stanislas-André Steeman 's detective story "six hommes morts" (six dead men),it's really a very exciting thriller.Six friends go their separate ways during five years in order to make their fortune around the world.When they go back,some have succeeded,some have failed.But one of them covets the whole pile and is doing away with his former mates.To reveal more would be a real spoiler.Suffice to say there's a very good suspense sustained till the very end.
Not only Clouzot wrote the script,but he also provided the movie with a female star :his then-partner Suzy Delair.She portrays exasperating Mila Malou,detective Wens (Fresnay)'s girlfriend. The movie was a commercial success,and Clouzot became a director:his first movie was the wonderful "l'assassin habite au 21" (a must!a must!) which reunited Fresnay and Delair playing the same characters of another SA Steeman book.
From Belgian Stanislas-André Steeman 's detective story "six hommes morts" (six dead men),it's really a very exciting thriller.Six friends go their separate ways during five years in order to make their fortune around the world.When they go back,some have succeeded,some have failed.But one of them covets the whole pile and is doing away with his former mates.To reveal more would be a real spoiler.Suffice to say there's a very good suspense sustained till the very end.
Not only Clouzot wrote the script,but he also provided the movie with a female star :his then-partner Suzy Delair.She portrays exasperating Mila Malou,detective Wens (Fresnay)'s girlfriend. The movie was a commercial success,and Clouzot became a director:his first movie was the wonderful "l'assassin habite au 21" (a must!a must!) which reunited Fresnay and Delair playing the same characters of another SA Steeman book.
Last Of Six, First Of Two
writers_reign31 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
The thirty one feature films produced by the German-run Continental Films between 1941-43 were a fairly mixed bag ranging from the two sub-standard Fernandel directed titles (Adrien, Simplet) to the wonderful Decoin-Darrieux Premiere Rendez-vous but luckily there was quite a bit of very good indeed stuff including the three titles in which Henri-George Clouzot had a hand. Here he provided only the screenplay - adapted from a novel by Stanislaus Andre Steeman - for Directes Georges Lacombe but the success of the film enabled him to direct not only a sequel (L'Assassin habite au 21) but the sometime notorious Le Corbeau, arguably the best-known of all the Continental titles. There's not a great deal new in the story of six friends who make a pact to go their separate ways for five years and then reunite and divvy up whatever fortunes they have made between them, nor would any seasoned thriller-reader/watcher be very surprised that one of them coveted the entire proceeds with the inevitable result that the remaining five started dropping like shares in Betamax after VHS won the rental war. There's a lot to admire here not least the teamwork between Pierre Fresnay's cop and his love interest Suzy Delair; Clouzot had clearly taken the Bill Powell-Myrna Loy relationship in the Thin Man series as a template and it is a great pity that the pairing petered out after two films. Definitely one to keep.
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