User Reviews

As always, this film occurs in Paris, there happen a murders series. One the night of the killing a butcher is the suspect, detective Maigret(the great Jean Gavin) becomes involved into investigation and pulls off a cat and mouse game with the killer. Maigret leaving false clues and a false murderer. Meanwhile is developed a pursuit through the Paris slums, in order to chase the killer, getting a button. Appear new suspects, as a strange woman(Annie Girardot, one of the most known French actress of the 60s) and her spouse(Jean Desailly, recently deceased). Maigret is helped by his underlings(Lino Ventura, in very secondary role , among them). The obstinate inspector winds up pitting rival against each other in order to destroy him in a stirring interrogation.

The picture displays thriller,tension, twists plots and is quite entertaining , though some moments is slow moving. Interesting and exciting battle of wits between intelligent detective and quirky villain. The story explores the dynamics of pathological behaviour and very much in the style of psychoanalytic descriptions fitting fairly to George Simenon novels. Casting is frankly outstanding. Jean Gavin as stubborn detective is top-notch, Jean Desailly as maniac-depressive husband is magnificent, he's tremendously affected into the deeps of human desperation. Annie Girardot as a predatory and manipulating beauty woman and Lino Ventura who was one of the best French actors from the 60s and 70s. Awesome cinematography by Page who reflects splendidly the Paris streets, though mostly made in studios. The motion picture is rightly directed by Jean Delannoy. The film is based on George Simenon legendary detective who is adapted at several cinematic rendition and TV series. As Maigret was played by Basil Sidney( The lost life,TV, 59) Gino Cervi(Maigret in Pigalle,67), Rupert Davies(series from 60s), Richard Harris(TV, 1988), Michael Gambon(TV,1993), Sergio Castellitto(2004). But specially by Jean Gavin who also played 'Maigret and the St Fiacre case(59)'. In Hollywood(1949) was realized by Burguess Meredith 'The man on the Eiffel tower'with Charles Laughton as Maigret. Rating : Good and worth watch checking out. The movie will like to Jean Gabin fans and intrigue lovers but contains a highly suspenseful.

Despite his occasional appearance in the films of major directors like Max Ophuls, Jacques Becker and Jean Renoir, from the 1950s onwards Jean Gabin seemed content to rely simply on his effortlessly charismatic screen persona and elevate an apparently interminable succession of old-fashioned potboilers which, while undeniably enjoyable in themselves, now seem like a regrettable waste of this monumental French film star. Nevertheless, I try not to miss any of his films when they crop up on Italian or French Cable TV channels and, for what it's worth, I've always been on the look-out for at least two of his late 50s films - Claude Autant-Lara's LOVE IS MY PROFESSION (1958; with Brigitte Bardot) and the film under review here.

Anyway, Gabin is perfectly cast as the world-weary Police Inspector who is pondering retirement when the re-emergence of an old nemesis - a serial-killer who stabs lonely brunettes coming home late at night - taunts him back into action with a supremely clever plan to trap the killer, hence the film's title. The film also features in a supporting role the actor who, for all intents and purposes, replaced Gabin in French filmgoers' minds as the brooding action hero, Lino Ventura, but it's Annie Girardot (as a neglected but ultimately self-sacrificing wife) and Jean Desailly (as her impotent, mother-fixated artist husband) who leave the best impression in the crowded supporting cast.

Jean Gabin would go on to appear as Inspector Maigret in 2 subsequent films - MAIGRET ET L' AFFAIRE SAINT-FIACRE (1959; which I've caught up with a couple of years ago) and MAIGRET VOIS ROUGE (1963) - and work a further 5 times with director Delannoy (including the afore-mentioned second Maigret film); interestingly enough, Delannoy himself would abandon his own artistic aspirations shown earlier in two major French films of the 1940s - L'ETERNEL RETOUR (1943) and LA SYMPHONIE PASTORALE (1946) - to concentrate on modest genre offerings (of which MAIGRET SETS A TRAP is the best-known and probably best overall as well) for the rest of his career.

Inspector Maigret is celebrated French pulp writer Georges Simenon's most famous literary creation and had previously been portrayed on the screen by Pierre Renoir in one of his brother Jean's most elusive films, NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS (1932), and also by the great Charles Laughton in Burgess Meredith's intriguing directorial outing, THE MAN IN THE EIFFEL TOWER (1950) - neither of which I've watched alas - and would go on to be impersonated by a variety of formidable character actors among them Rupert Davies, Gino Cervi and Michael Gambon for TV!

Among the less famous movies made by Gabin in his 50s,there are two I love most:Maigret Lays a Trap and The Baron of the Locks;the two have 4 things in common:Gabin,Delannoy,a Simenon adaptation,and Desailly in a supporting role.Maigret Lays a Trap serves also as an access,an introduction to the young Mrs. Girardot's charm and womanhood.

Gabin seems in high spirits and very willing to act and to mold a splendor of an ample role:that of a mammoth police inspector.

The atmosphere is very adequate and fitting.The pace is good,alert,nimbly done.This movie is concise,sharp,practical,each actor is cut out for the part.

Mrs. Girardot was fresh,appetizing,lustful and extremely sexual,she shows finesse and goes far.(Delannoy tasted the womanhood and knew how to make such portraits of women:in The Baron of the Locks,there is the delicious Blanchette Brunoy.It is obvious he had a taste for portraying women.)

"Maigret ..." takes pride in its quartet of actors:Gabin,Mrs. Girardot,Desailly (the director Delannoy would use Desailly again in another Simenon adaptation featuring Gabin:"The Baron of the Locks ") and Ventura in a bit,unimportant part.Hussenot is interesting as "Lagrume". Desailly plays an adipose,slippery, faint-hearted youngster with a psychotic air,a queer customer. Mrs. Girardot is very noticeable and lucent, lurid, luminous.

Maigret tend Un Piège (1958) is the first of the Gabin's "Maigrets",and a relish.Gabin was 54 years when he made this role.Gabin should have made many more such "Maigret" movies,and less trucker roles.The crime movies were seldom honored with an acting so classy.

Jean Delannoy was a very competent,efficient,very pragmatic, intelligent, capable director,and he made some very pleasing Simenon adaptations with Gabin.Delannoy showed up to be a clear-sighted director.(Contrary to what is said by a few,Gabin worked with many good directors,such as Renoir ,Carné,Duvivier,Ophuls,Becker,some of them now despised by nerds.)

I don't seek the Gabin's "Maigrets" for the joys only Simenon's novels can offer;the flicks provide joys of their own.The novels' Maigret is a very different one;Gabin's is tough,brusque,authoritarian,sometimes irascible,gives everybody the ha-ha.This movies are on their own.

Maigret was one of the best Gabin roles,and it is fair that all 3 "Maigret" movies are included in the list of Gabin's 17 "Incontournables". Gabin made one of the best policemen in cinema's history.

Watching this movie you understand why young French filmmakers of that time were desperate to develop a new movie language. It's a prime example of what they derisively called "Cinema du Papa", as in stuffy and dated. Indeed this movie might as well have been made in 1938 instead of 1958. It's set-bound, slow-moving and talky, with stock characters and predictable plot twists. The atmosphere it evokes is hardly that of a bustling metropolis, more a provincial backwater with outdated attitudes towards women and artists. It seems to aim at an audience who weren't at all interested in jazz or existentialism, and who still saw Picasso as a third-rate con artist. Women should take care of their husbands, like Mrs. Maigret, ready to supply him with his pipe and slippers and serve his soup. And real men should choose manly professions, like butcher, or they can turn out pathetic mummy's boys. Or worse.....Less critical viewers may enjoy this as a pleasant policier from a bygone age with a competent performance by the legendary Jean Gabin. Me for one am glad the New Wave of French filmmakers was already waiting in the wings to clear out the cobwebs.

Well-plotted, well-made, well-acted (Jean Gabin is commanding as Maigret, a young and beautiful Annie Girardot is magnificent, and there are other good peripheral roles), but excessively talky and simply way overlong at 114 minutes. **1/2 out of 4.

In the second movie in wich Kean Delannoy directed Jean Gabin as Maigret, we have a serial killer who has struck four times. Maigret doesn't have a clue, so he attempts to replicate the circumstances with policewomen who resemble the victims. When that fails, he performs a 'reconstruction' and has plainclothesmen follow the people who crowd to watch. This leads him to Anne Giradot, who is married to interior decorator Jean Desailly, the son of widowed Lucienne Bogaert; she owns the building which houses the butcher shop whence the murder weapon was stolen.

Gabin is considered the gold standard of Maigrets, in no small part because he was one of France's great movie stars for decades. More than that, he inhabits Maigret well: aging, weary, fat, he climbs stairs with a slow tread and looks upon his job with a combination of satisfaction and disgust. Even as he is admired, almost venerated by his staff, he has grown old and tired, and knows it. He considers retiring, until he get a letter from the killer when he 'arrests' a decoy.

Delannoy is considered a competent and commercial director, and this movie is a good example of his work. He has a highly capable cast, knows it, and is content with blocking and pacing, and lets them have their heads when it comes to performances. The bourgeois world in which this movie take place is well shown, from the back alleys of the butcher shop to the high rise in which Desailly and Mlle Giradot live. It is that bourgeouisie, with its striving for a slightly higher standing, that Delannoy, and Simeon have utter contempt. It is only the hopeful competence of his staff, and the calm, loving sniping of Jeanne Boitel as his wife that keeps him going.

It is not, of course, the Maigret of past and future versions, not the thoughtful Pierre Renoir, nor the almost Mycroft-Holmes-like Harry Baur. He is human, he is fallible, and forced to act faster than he would like, he makes mistakes. Those failures humanize more than others might like. It pleases me.

Alongside Molinaro's "La Mort de Belle", the best adaptation of a Simenon story for the big screen.

Helmer Delannoy proves a past master at creating a stifling atmosphere ( night scenes, a hot stormy weather, a heady melody pervading the story ), managing to make the tension rise and swell regularly until it explodes in a triple climax ( Maurice's interrogation, the confrontation of Maurice's wife and mother, the final attempt to murder Mauricette ). So, when the rain finally starts falling in the final seconds of the movie, it does as much good to bulky, weary Gabin as it does to the tense viewer.

Of course, the film benefits from a great interpretation : Jean Gabin gives life to his determined-shrewd-exhausted "commissaire" while Jean Desailly shines as the poor but dangerous Maurice whose boyhood has been prolonged by the misguided love of his mother ( Lucienne Bogaërt, perfect ). And Annie Girardot plays subtly and with welcome restraint the loving wife of a monster.

Sure, Misraki's music and song are haunting and the camera-work is sleek, but what actually makes this film a major work is that the authors( R.M.Arlaud, Delannoy and Audiard ) are true to the spirit of Simenon : disillusioned with human nature but sympathetic with those who are its victims, however monstrous they may appear to society.

I delight in a good detective story and have seen numerous Film & TV versions of the same stories. In this case we're speaking of cases, which are for me; fantastic versions of Maigret. Gabin plays the character in such a vibrantly nuanced manner, as that of a man who is measured, but very engaged in walking the streets and getting into the nitty gritty of each case. The relationship with his wife has less to do with smiles and more to do with a woman who bursts any notional bubble he's caught in, with unpretentious aplomb. And the cases themselves are so much more detailed, complex and true to Simenon's originals than some other adaptations; especially shorter length episodes for TV. Of course, Simenon himself preferred Rupert Davies portrayal over the dozen or so other attempts. But for me this was thoroughly enjoyable!

This year was devoted to deepening my appreciation of Simenon's works; this is the best film version of his novels. From the first scene, with a nervous Insp. Lagrume trying to keep abreast of a violent confrontation in the Place des Vosges--the fourth killing by a sadistic serial killer--to the ending with Lagrume again trying to curry favour with an exasperated Maigret, this film held me spellbound. The acting is superb: Gabin has his best role since the glory days with Renoir in the 30's, Desailly is extraordinary as the wretched Maurin, pulled by mother and wife both and hating it, Annie Girardot is wonderfully sensual and determined as the young wife, and Lucienne Bogaert plays the mother from Hell with the greatest skill. The hatred the two women have for each other is palpable. All the supporting players turn in fine work, especially Gerard Sety as Jojo the gigolo who manages to stir the emotions of Yvonne Maurin, for a while at least.

It seems there is no general Region 1 release for this film; that's a real shame. I found a cheap knockoff without special features in a cutout bin in Montreal. Please let's have a proper reissue.

Jean Gabin plays Inspector Maigret here in a role that I find him quite matched to. I always figured him as fitting kindly roles after watching him play gangsters so often (the French have had an ambivalent, occasionally adulatory disposition towards gangsters judging from their domestic movie output, which perhaps makes these roles for Gabin less of a clang for them - perhaps this is similar to our English views of Robin Hood and Dick Turpin!).

I came to this movie via an interest in director Jean Delannoy. Even though it appears to be a very commercial project he's helming on behalf of a studio, rather than a more obviously auteur-driven piece such as "L'Eternel Retour", there are perhaps significant parallels with his other work. Delannoy, I believe, was preoccupied with matters Oedipal, definitely by family conflict of the dysfunctional variety, and you can see this, for example, in "La Symphonie Pastorale", where a father and son both fall in love with the same woman, also in "L'Eternel Retour" with the damaged Achille, spoiled by his parents, and in "Macao, enfer de jeu", where Ying Tchaï's entire life is concealed from the daughter he dotes on.

Whilst Maigret Sets a Trap is about, "la chasse au tigre", or a tiger hunt, with the Marais killer being the tiger, there's also a story of inter-generational abuse that's powerful and fascinating. I felt I learnt several lessons whilst watching the movie, particularly about the power of jealousy to provoke extravagant paranoias (under which lie quite delicate realities) and how the truth is often more human than you think, also about temperance (Maigret makes a joke about being unable to obtain attractive partners), and appearances. I'm fascinated about private versus public realities, ever since seeing Paul Klee's beautiful series of "Der Komiker" ("The Comedian") etchings as a teenager. These show men wearing masks that look like faces, and you can see the real, quite different, faces behind. In this movie there's a huge divide between persona and the repressed and crippled personalities behind them.

Today's audiences may find that Jean Desailly (Marcel Maurin) overacts, but I think Delannoy is far cleverer than is often given credit for, and provides his own commentary on the style of acting in the movie, when Maigret is at pains to instruct a con on how to act to the press.

I think I fell in love with this movie, because I was never really sure where it was going, and there's some dirty thoughts to be had if you get inside the paranoia. There's also not many movies where you have such a human detective, who even conducts a late night interview with his undone belt surrounding a bulging belly. The ending is quite iconic in its own way, and rounded off a charming watch.

Belgian-born writer Georges Simenon created the quiet pipe-smoking Jules Maigret, and wrote no less than 75 novels featuring the Parisian inspector, always with the background of the Quai des Orfevres police station, and his team of assistants who sift through all types of clues and evidence in the streets of the French capital, redolent with dark atmosphere.

The Quai des Orfevres office often provides the ideal setting for psychological interrogation, and this film takes full advantage of the Spartan simplicity of the station's interiors.

Director Jean Delannoy does a creditable job with the material at hand. He certainly gets Jean Gabin to reproduce many of the mannerisms that emerge in the character of Maigret in those 75 novels, but I do not rate MAIGRET TEND UN PIÈGE one of the famous detective's better showpieces. Gabin does particularly well when he keeps silent, and just conveys quiet menace, determination, or love for his homely wife with his eyes.

The beautiful and young Annie Girardot suddenly appears among the inquisitive crowd surrounding a dead female, and attracts the attention of one of Maigret's aides. Why exactly I could not fathom, as it was clear that the killer was a male, and witnesses correctly identified him as such.

The movie takes on another dimension with Girardot's presence but the finest piece of acting comes courtesy of Jean Desailly, Girardot's impotent, jealous, and hysterical husband, who has not managed to sever the umbilical cord with his domineering mother, played with considerable verve and venom by Lueienne Bogaert.

The young Lino Ventura keeps appearing in the background, and speaks but a few lines, but cuts a convincing Detective Torrence.

Maigret applies massive psychological pressure on all whom he interrogates and finally comes up with the results, but Gabin sometimes takes his Maigret to shouting and emotional levels that rather exceed the character emanating from Simenon's novels. Not that it reduces believability, but having read some of those novels I felt that this Maigret had a touch of the excessive... perhaps to stay in tune with Desailly?

Wonderful photography of the dark streets of Paris. Good adaptation of the novel to the screen by the irrepressible Michel Audiard and Director Delannoy himself.

Certainly worth watching.

This is the first of three films in which Georges Simenon's marvellous creation Jules Maigret is played by Jean Gabin. Rather plodding initially and resembling a standard 'policier', it takes on a new dimension and becomes totally absorbing with the appearance of Annie Girardot, Jean Desailly and Lucienne Bogaert all of whom are fantastic. In the title role Gabin's screen presence is undeniable but he is far more effective in his quieter moments than when called upon to emote. The ubiquitous Michel Audiard contributes dialogue which is always a plus whilst Louis Page is behind the camera as he was for the two subsequent films. Excellent score by Paul Misraki. At almost two hours it is a wee bit long for a whodunnit but one's interest is sustained by a brilliant cast and superb editing by Henri Taverna. Director Jean Delannoy has served Simenon well by concentrating on the psychological complexity of the characters.. The same director teamed up with Gabin the following year for 'Maigret et L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre' in which Gabin's portrayal is mellower and is ably supported by Valentine Tessier and Michel Auclair. The rest of the cast however is strictly 'B'. Five years were to elapse before 'Maigret voit Rouge' for director Gilles Grangier with whom Gabin made no less than twelve films! Despite some interesting 'types' this is basically one Maigret too far and nothing more than a mediocre gangster movie. We all have our favourite Maigret of course and mine happens to be Harry Bauer. Apparently Simenon himself favoured Rupert Davis!? Oh well, fools give you reasons, wise men never try'!

It's a hot summer in Paris while a mysterious killer is plaguing the serene joie de vivre of Montmartre district making victims out of women who have in common (besides the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong moment of the night) to be young and plump brunettes. The film opens with a murder that recalls the beginning of the mother of all psychological thrillers: "M" and there's more that justifies the comparison.

Jean Delannoy's "Maigret Sets a Trap" is a fine example of a police procedural film that gets three things right: first, it perfectly conveys the atmosphere of an impending danger whose motivations -we rapidly suspect- are rooted in the mire of human psyche, secondly, the villain isn't just an antagonist but the subject of a character study that unveils the sleaziest and most sordid expressions of hubris and finally, the film lies on the broad shoulders of a great and iconic protagonist in the person of Jules Maigret, the 'French' Sherlock Holmes, created by Belgian writer George Simenon.

A few words about Maigret: the Chief Inspector is a robust-looking, well-built man with a reassuring physique and a sort of detached attitude that allows him to be more perceptive of little details surrounding him, he's a man who takes his time, follows his instinct, and tries to identify hints about the assassin's profile as insistently as if they were tangible evidence. He's a man who can nonchalantly wonders across a busy street to test the waters and gather clues from the mere sight of playful kids or noisy vendors. He's not alone in this job, he has various subordinates (one is played by Lino Venture) whose mission can consist of walking in the screen and fishing potential suspects out of shoals of onlookers.

I make his approach methodical but it isn't, Maigret built enough experience not to let himself distracted by bureaucracy, he can enter a house without a warrant considering it's up to the suspect to know the rules. He handles information as if they're no big deal, encouraging the suspect to go on without arousing any suspicion on his side, "may I see your wardrobe?" "did you have a key?" innocent questions whose purpose is to grab facts that can eventually be contradicted by subtle cross-examinations. There's something fascinating in the way Maigret handles the investigation, even when we suspect he's not fooled by the criminal's identity, let alone his psychological profile, he still acts with the potential killer as a simple civil servant concerned by red tape issues.

There's no doubt in my mind that Gabin was born to play Maigret, the actor, in the second part of his career, had the quiet strength of the experienced man, who knows when to speak, when to listen and when to let his authoritarian voice erupt in a few occasions. Gabin was perfect to play characters who didn't need to rise their voice to obtain what they wanted and knew when to use it to finally get the confession, a man in total control of the situation even when it could get out of control. Gabin trusts his competence and knows that his instinct would only half fool him and half the way to the killer goes through the fatal weakness he'll be able to spot. He can tell from an anonymous letter that there's a big ego behind the assassin, one that would bite on the right bait.

Basically, the film is composed of three acts: Maigret sets the trap that fulfills its purpose in extremis, then there's the investigation where Maigret asks questions between Montmartre and Les Rosiers and the film's climax consists of interrogation scenes that are as riveting and absorbing as the classic "Garde à Vue" by Claude Miller: Maigret in his office, Maigret outside and Maigret in the interrogation room. And at that point of the review I must mention that, in her earliest roles, Annie Girardot delivers a great subdued performance as a bourgeois woman bored by her effeminate husband Jean Desailly, equally superb as the Mama's boy who's been so pampered by her mother he developed a strong aversion to the female persuasion. Both actors would be nominated for the BAFTA Awards.

There's a great study of French manhood in that early urban setting of the 50s that might echo the post-war atmosphere film noir. France was a country that was both defeated at the end of the war and yet had its honor saved by the great De Gaulle, a country whose citizens accepted the patronizing and infantilizing tone of Pétain telling them to surrender to Germany for their own good and yet where a handful of fighters decided to maintain the fight. It's one of France's tragic ironies to have invented the world 'Resistance' and be forever associated with 'surrendering'. In that confrontation between Maigret and the suspect, there's the collision of these two sides of French manhood, the old-school and principled citizen and the wimp who accepts defeat and yet doesn't have the guts to assume it. This is why you can't totally disconnect the film from a certain view of France and the way social classes can condition ethical choices, that the killer is highly educated says a lot about a certain defiance toward the upper class man.

There's more in "Maigret" than a formulaic police movie: behind the investigation, there's a study on mores of its time, it's a rather disenchanting and heavy-loaded portrait of a moral decadence and the way men have lost their way, and when the film ends with that sudden rain, we feel as relieved as Maigret who chooses to walk alone on the street as if he felt even the police couldn't triumph over all the filth and evil that eat away the people and maybe a good rain will watch some of it.

The first opus of the "Maigret" saga is a gem of French popular cinema... with an assumed populist undertone.

Based on one of Georges Simenon's most exciting novels, "Maigret Sets a Trap" is a classy and suspenseful, but most of all intelligent movie about the battle of nerves between two proud men. A serial killer proud enough to taunt the police and a policeman proud enough not to like being laughed at.

The plot is kicked into gear during a lovely morning scene between Commissaire Maigret (Jean Gabin) and his wife (Jeanne Boitel). He's tired having worked all night, she's tireless seeing how she'll be working all day. All the papers carry the news about the latest handiwork of the Marais Killer - his fourth. "He must be thinking," observes Mme Maigret, "I'm the king". "You believe he really thinks that way," asks Maigret, bothered by the idea of a serial killer gloating under his nose. "If he's at all proud, he must be pleased with himself," she replies, not knowing she's just given her husband a devilish idea. In a wonderfully captured moment of warmth, he jokes with his wife. "Say, there's a big brain under those rollers". Mme Maigret doesn't laugh.

Maigret's idea is this: He'll have a number of highly trained policewomen patrol the Marais area undercover. When the killer inevitably pounces on one, she'll make the arrest. It's a dangerous trap, dangerous enough to make all of Maigret's colleagues and bosses shudder, but with enough chance of working for them to let him try it. At his own discretion, of course.

The trap doesn't quite work as planned but it leads Maigret into the home of Marcel Maurin (Jean Desailly), a self-professed architect-decorator. A bit of both and a bit of neither. Untrained but an artist at heart... or something like that. What he is, without a doubt, though is a child in a man's body with lively eyes filled with childish glee. Glee about what? Maigret's unannounced visit shakes him up, though. Enough to shout at his wife in an argument which unusually enough leaves him in tears.

Not that Maigret is only interested in Marcel. His wife, the young and frustrated Yvonne (Annie Girardot) is hard to overlook. A bundle of nerves, at the same time emotional and distant, as if lost in thoughts of unattainable desires. She claims to have spent the night of one of the murderers in bed with her lover. "He cheats on me," she says of her husband, "I was filled with an idiotic fury and I wanted to take revenge. Pay him in kind." But is she telling the truth? Is the childish Marcel capable of such an act? Like a complete inversion of her husband, Yvonne looks like a child, wide-eyed and awkward, but her soul is old, old and tired.

Finally, there's the mother, the formidable widow Maurin (Lucienne Bogaert) and it only takes a few moments in her presence to see how she's the reason for her son's childishness. She's one of those mothers who always wear skirts large enough for their adult sons to hide under. She keeps her artist son's juvenalia framed on the walls of her large apartment. "He painted this when he was 12," she says to Maigret as if the painting doesn't look exactly like it was painted by a 14-year old. "He would have been a great artist if they'd let him persist". Always the mysterious them - the them who've ruined her child's immeasurable talent. At the same time, as she praises her son, she scoffs at her husband. "He was neither good nor bad. He was a butcher." In this case, it seems Jocasta murdered Laius herself.

"Maigret Sets a Trap" is nominally a mystery but it's the precisely observed characters that make it a wonderful experience. Note, for instance, the superb scene in which Maigret interviews a gigolo (Gérard Séty) about a woman who turned him down. "Why are you whispering," asks Maigret. "I'd rather not spread this around. It's not good publicity," replies the harried lover.

There are so many similarly wonderful and witty vignettes in this film it would be impossible to list them all. This is the only Simenon adaptation I've ever seen that is as observant as the great author's novels. This is doubtlessly down to writer/director Jean Delannoy who does an impressive job on both counts. His script is witty and admirably easy to follow despite the many characters and leisurely pace. His direction is taut, artful but unfussy, interesting but not distracting. Although marketed as such, this is not really a thriller, not in the classic sense of the word. It is a masterfully observed human drama, a study in warped psychology but Delannoy dresses it into a suspenseful film with admirable ease. The thriller elements are like sugar to help the bitter pill go down.

The performances are uniformly excellent. Jean Gabin in particular gives a flawless portrayal of a man worn out by the horrors he sees every day. There's great tiredness in him, in the way he moves, the way he plops down into chairs, and the way he quietly interrogates his suspects like a man who's absolutely sure they'll crack. After all, he's seen it before so, so many times. Harry Baur may be a more letter-perfect Maigret, but Gabin is by far the most convincing as a highly experienced French copper.

His team consists of Olivier Hussenot as the eager and comical Lagrume, Lino Ventura as the bullish Torrence and André Valmy as the dependable Lucas. Delannoy lets us into their little tricks of the trade in a series of delectable scenes set in the police station. The way they drive a suspect mad by continually asking him for his mother's maiden name is both hilarious and utterly authentic. It's the kind of realism that shows like "The Wire" so fascinating to watch.

Finally, there are the Maurins. A trio of pitch-perfect performances. Jean Desailly is alternatingly annoying and chilling as the spoiled man-child and Lucienne Bogaert despicable as his overbearing mother. Annie Girardot, meanwhile, manages to elicit even some sympathy as the woman caught in between. Her haunted, expressive eyes say more than a thousand words ever could.

If I had anything negative to say about "Maigret Sets a Trap" it would only be that it is a tad too long, though I'd have no idea what to cut. Every second of it is so perfectly observed and depicted. It is also a shame that it wasn't shot on location. Even though René Renoux's sets are convincing reproductions, their inherent staginess takes a little away from the realism of the film.

But these flaws are so minor, they aren't really worth mentioning. "Maigret Sets a Trap" is a perfect Simenon adaptation in tone, pace, and psychology. It is less of a thriller and more of a collection of perfectly observed human vignettes. With superb performances, atmospheric direction, and a beautiful melody composed by Paul Misraki tying it all together, this is a film that absolutely must be seen.

Maigret is looking after a women killer in Paris. It's the occasion to see some places from the old Paris. Jean Gabin is really fit for the role of Maigret. Hopefully it's not a movie where the whole action takes place in a police office. In that film you can also see a young beginner named Lino Ventura.

Jean Gabin and his first appearance as Inspector Maigret

This film by Jean Delannoy started a small series with CESAR award winner (h.c.) Jean Gabin as Maigret, invented by Georges Simenon. Instead of Montmartre like in the book, the film takes place in the Marais, not far from the Place des Vosges.

A terrible series of murders of women shakes the district. Maigret uses a trick by having an innocent man (Guy Decomble) arrested. In this way he hopes to spur the ambition of the real perpetrator. And actually: There is another murder attempt. The perpetrator escapes near a popular butcher's shop. The investigation quickly focuses on the Maurins. There is the artistically gifted Marcel (Jean Desailly) and his sophisticated wife Yvonne (Annie Girardot). His mother (Lucienne Bogaert), who is quite strange, still lives in the house. And there is also a mysterious gigolo (Gerard Sety) with whom the young madame always meets...

A good crime plot, convincing character studies and integration into the milieu make this crime classic. The evocative interiors of the apartments are also great, as they reveal a lot about their residents. Jean Gabin impresses as Maigret in all three films. He is supported here by "his inspectors" Olivier Hussenot and Lino Ventura (1919-1987), who would soon become a major star of French cinema.

Definitely worth seeing!

Be it deliberately true or not, this bears an unmistakable kinship with crime flicks (including film noir) from contemporary Hollywood. Louis Page's crisp, vivid, dynamic black and white cinematography definitely makes that connection, not least with very particular close-ups and smart, fluid movement. Henri Taverna's shrewd editing produces cuts and sequencing that heightens tension while Jean Delannoy's direction, orchestrating shots and scenes, employs tasteful tracking shots, first-person perspectives, high angles, and other such thoughts that American moviegoers are quite accustomed to in like fare. As the story details efforts by police to pin down a serial killer that is in some measure toying with them, and coming across a peculiar variety of people in the process, the look and feel of 'Maigret tend un piège' is complete. And I think the comparison is fair in one other regard: this is fantastic!

There's marvelous intelligence and detail here all around in how the picture is written and executed, down to a moment so small as a shot of closet doors being shut, or the detective relaxing at the end of the day. This fictional depiction of Paris is made to seem like a living, breathing world with characters of personality and complications, brought to life with terrific, wholehearted performances across the board. Page's cinematography absolutely lends to that notion as well as rich camerawork invites a strong sense of the spaciousness of the superb filming locations, and excellent sets. Providing foundation for all the exquisite craftsmanship, scenes and the narrative at large are written with a delicate finesse that maintains a robust air of mystery about the goings-on, and even adeptly shifts focus over the course of these two hours without ever truly straying from the overall purpose. Facets that are often taken for granted, including costume design, hair, and makeup, look splendid, and Delannoy sagely maintains an overall even tone as the investigation twists and turns - infusing heightened emotions into the proceedings only at those precise moments where it counts the most. There came a point where I was surprised to check and see how much of the runtime was left, but to my delight, 'Maigret tend un piège' doesn't waste a minute of it.

Compelling, enjoyable, and satisfying as the feature is, I can't quite bring myself to say that it's perfect. Though the film makes judicious use of its length and is solidly engaging, I can't help but feel that the pacing is a tad soft; I wouldn't have specifically looked at the digital timer, or been surprised by it, if I weren't feeling these two hours. More substantively concerning are a couple notions broached in the plot - in the second to last big scene, that gives us the last reveals - that reek of ableism and backhanded misogyny. I don't know if this is a reflection of just the adapted screenplay or also of Georges Simenon's novel, but either way there wouldn't have even been any need to significantly change the story or the scene to rectify the matter. Retool the dialogue just a smidgen, and all else is left intact without propagating harmful, antiquated ideas.

Still, if these are the worst critiques to come to mind, then I'd say the movie has done quite well for itself. If a tad imperfect, by and large this holds up wonderfully well, and is as tight and engrossing as any of its genre kin, and as much so now as it was sixty-five years ago. I'm personally fond of the cinematography and the writing above all else, but this is altogether fabulously well done, with keen direction, great acting, and skilled contributions from behind the scenes. I rather think anyone who appreciates crime dramas and thrillers, or even film noir, would feel right at home with 'Maigret tend un piège,' and it seems to me to have earned a blanket recommendation. It may not be singularly striking in any regard, nor a total must-see, but if you have the chance to check out this 1958 film, it's well worth anyone's time.

According my files I did watch Inspector Maigret in 1995, however with Richard Harris, a British production of 1988, the French I never hear before, this month came out a Box-Set of three Jean Gabin's Maigret, the picture surprise me deeply, I was expecting something alike Poirot concept, nevertheless is quite unequal, Maigret is more human, fallible, he was in trouble after a serial killer has been stabbed four women on same pattern at Paris low district, under pressure by superior authorities Maigret undertakes a high stakes, he decides assemble a bolded plan, firstly he offers a phony suspect, also scattered several women as bait on the district, a task force is formed to cover all narrow streets, the killer fall into a trap, however got escape unscathed, meanwhile the set-up had a clue, starting this point Maigret has something at sight, fabulous picture with a proper casting as Annie Giradot, Jean Desaily and the incredible Lino Ventura on small role, Maigret imposes a grueling psychological game to get a confession of the alleged killer on stifling atmosphere, he follows his instincts, a great photography on dark neighhood of old Paris!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

Maigret tend un piège (1958), directed by Jean Delannoy and starring Jean Gabin as the iconic French detective Jules Amedée François Maigret, is a captivating classic in detective films. Set in Paris, the film masterfully blends a dark, gritty atmosphere with the city's subtle charm.

Gabin's portrayal of Maigret is outstanding, demonstrating intelligence and empathy. The supporting cast delivers strong performances, while the cinematography transforms the Parisian streets into a character of their own.

The plot revolves around mysterious murders in Montmartre, with Maigret's methodical approach keeping the audience engaged. The twists and turns lead to a satisfying and unexpected conclusion.

In summary, Maigret tend un piège (1958) is a must-watch for fans of detective films and classic cinema, featuring exceptional performances, a captivating plot, and an atmospheric setting that ensures its timeless appeal.

I can genuinely say that I love Jean Gabin's portrayal of Inspector Maigret. He has the same kind of laid-back charm and understated intelligence that Americans might know from Columbo. I enjoy how he questions a suspect without making it feel like an interrogation. He acts so relaxed and friendly with people that you can believe someone might actually confess to this guy without realizing they said too much. I also loved how he involved his fellow police officers in the investigation, including in the tedious work of wearing down a suspect's resistance. The only real problem with all the interrogation scenes is that they do push suspects a bit too far. I think in the real world (at least in the US) much of the testimony they acquire would be thrown out in the courts because they don't even allow people to have a lawyer present before questioning them, even when one has been specifically requested.

Easily the most surprising thing about Maigret Sets a Trap is that the trap he sets is quite early in the film. The cops have plans to catch the crook in the act, and they devise an elaborate scheme to lure him to his doom. But even with the plan in place there are still plenty of things that the Inspector has to figure out and we get to solve the case with him. Even if it's not the most elaborate crime, and we can follow the clues easily, it is still fun to be along for the ride. I adore a good police procedural film, particularly one where they are working the clues to find their man. There's a lot of familiar elements to the style of Maigret Sets a Trap, so I can't say the movie is wholly original, but I don't mind when a movie utilizes tropes as long as they are done well. I was completely entertained by Maigret Sets a Trap, and was surprised how much I was laughing in the midst of this murder mystery. It was a treat.