Quai des Orfevres - Criterion Collection

Starring:Suzy Delair, Bernard Blier, Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Pierre Larquey, Jean Daurand, RenÃ© Blancard, Robert Dalban, Charles Dullin, Henri Arius, Charles Blavette, Jean Dunot, Claudine Dupuis, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, Jacques GrÃ©tillat, Gilberte GÃ©niat, FranÃ§ois Joux, LÃ©o Lapara, Henri Niel, AndrÃ© NumÃ¨s Fils
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Studio: Criterion
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Though dressed in the guise of a murder mystery, Quai des Orfèvres is a rich, engrossing character study in which murder plays a secondary role. Six years before the triumph of The Wages of Fear, director Henri-Georges Clouzot couldn't find a copy of his source novel (Légitime Defense, by Stanislas-André Steeman), so he crafted this stylish police procedural from spotty memory, infuriating the author while freeing himself to explore the depths of his all-too-human characters. Using atmospheric Parisian locations and shadowy compositions that rival anything in American film noir, Clouzot gives plausible alibis to the prime suspects--a dancehall chanteuse, her suspicious husband, and a fashionable lesbian photographer--while a seasoned detective (played to perfection by Louis Jouvet) efficiently sorts through the clues. Anyone expecting thrills will be disappointed: Clouzot's fascination with human behavior prevails, and this subtle mix of motives and secrets is delicately balanced with underworld cynicism and a compassionate understanding of the human heart. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Blacklisted for his daring "anti-French" masterpiece, Le Corbeau, Henri-Georges Clouzot returned to cinema four years later with the 1947 crime fiction adaptation, Quai des Orfevres. Set within the vibrant dancehalls and historic crime corridors of 1940s Paris, ambitious performer Jenny Lamour (Suzy Delair), her covetous piano-playing husband Maurice Martineau (Bertrand Blier), and their devoted confidante Dora Monier (Simone Renant) attempt to cover one another's tracks when a sexually ogreish high-society acquaintance is murdered. Enter Inspector Antoine (Louis Jouvet), whose seasoned instincts lead him down a circuitous path in this classic whodunit murder mystery.

Customer Reviews:

Quai des Orfevres.......2007-06-25

This smart, atmospheric policier marked Clouzot's return to filmmaking after the putatively anti-French "Le Corbeau." Blier and Delair are magnetic performers, and clearly relish their roles as a husband and wife under investigation by crafty Inspector Antoine (the marvelous Louis Jouvet), a man with a nose for human foibles. Clouzot handles the noir conventions with a deft touch, but focuses on developing his characters--including raven-haired beauty Simone Renant, playing Jenny's bosom friend and closet lesbian, Dora. (Best line: "I'm a funny kind of girl.") If you like your noir with a classy French twist, check out "Quai des Orfevres."

A marvelous, amusing movie about murder, jealousy, music halls and love, with enough raisins even for Hitchcock.......2006-10-29

Is it a murder mystery? Is it a police procedural? Is it a back-stage look at seedy French music halls? Quai des Orfevres is all of these, but more than anything else it's an amusing comedy of infidelity, jealousy and love, set in post-WWII Paris. It may be surprising that Henri-Georges Clouzot, the director of such grim films as Le Corbeau or such suspenseful nail-biters as Diabolique and The Wages of Fear, is the director of this one. Clouzot, however, was a shrewd film-maker. "In a murder mystery," he tells us, 'there's an element of playfulness. It's never totally realistic. In this I share Hitchcock's view, which says, 'A murder mystery is a slice of cake with raisins and candied fruit, and if you deny yourself this, you might as well film a documentary.'" Quai des Orfevres is a wonderful film, and it's no documentary.

Jenny Martineau (Suzy Delair) is an ambitious singer at music halls and supper clubs. She's a flirt, she's sees nothing too wrong with using a bit of sex as well as talent to get a contract. Her stage name is Jenny Latour. And she really loves her husband, Maurice Martineau (Bernard Blier). Martineau is something of a sad sack. He's her accompanist and arranger. He's a bit balding, a bit chubby and jealous to a fault. Then we have their neighbor, the photographer Dora Monnier (Simone Renant). She's blond, gorgeous (think of Rita Hayworth) and capable. She and Martineau have been friends since they were children together. Dora, however, is definitely not thinking just of friendship when she looks at Jenny. Then comes along Georges Brignon (Charles Dullin), a wizened, rich and dirty old man, who often has Dora take "art" photographs of his young female proteges whom he poses himself. He offers a contract for a film to Jenny, and suggests a dinner at his home to discuss the details. Jenny is more than willing. Maurice is furious and forbids it. Jenny shouts right back at him, "You're jealous of the rich! Well, I want my share of their dough. I'm all for royalty!" "You're dad was a laborer," Maurice shouts back. "So what? Under Louis XV, I'd have been Madame de Pompadour! I'd have heated up their tights!"

And after Brignon is found dead with a smashed champagne bottle next to his bleeding skull, there's Dora to try to make things safe for Jenny. But wait. Inspector Antoine gets the case. Antoine (Louis Jouvet) is a tall, tired, middle-aged bachelor with sore feet. He has seen it all. He served in "the colonies" with the Foreign Legion and returned with an adopted baby and malaria. The child is now about eight-years old and Antoine dotes on him. One of the first things Antoine discovers is not only did someone brain Brignon with a bottle, someone shot him in the heart. Who did it? Before long Jenny, Maurice and Dora all are making up alibis, lying and, at one or another point, confessing. How will Antoine discover the murderer? Will we have a chance to see some great music hall songs sung by Jenny Latour? Everything becomes clear, but only with time and Detective Antoine's persistence. We are left with many kinds of love leading to all kinds of motives, from hair-trigger jealousy to longing glances...and all played with a nice mixture of Gallic amusement.

Clouzot takes us to a Paris of seedy but not threatening neighborhoods, to downtrodden music publishers where tunes are played on the piano for buyers, to restaurants with discrete private dining rooms. Most of all, he takes us to the music hall where Jenny Latour often performs. We can see Jenny as she sings, with couples in the seats and single men wearing their coats and hats in standing room. And everyone smokes. The first third of the film, in fact, takes place largely in this milieu. With Jenny singing about "Her petite tra-la-la, her sweet tra-la-la," we follow her from trying out the song at the publishers to a rehearsal to a saucy performance with Jenny in a feathered hat, a corset, gartered stockings and not much else.

Delair, Blier and Renant all do wonderful jobs, but it Louis Jouvet who holds everything together. He was a marvelous actor who disliked making films. The stage was his world, and he took on films only if he happened to like the director and to make money to finance his stage work. Jouvet was tall with a long face and broad cheekbones. He was not conventionally handsome but he had what it takes to dominate a scene. For a look at how skillfully he could play comedy, watch him in Drole de Drame. He's a fascinating actor. At one point he says, "I've taken a liking to you, Miss Dora Monnier." "Me?" she asks. "Yes. Because you and I are two of a kind. When it comes to women, we'll never have a chance." Jouvet brings all kinds of nuances to that line, from rueful regret to a gentle amusement.

The Criterion release of Quai des Orfevres has an excellent black-and-white transfer, with deep blacks and rich grays. There is a short interview with Clouzot and another interview with Blier, Renant and Delair. The case holds a fold-out which gives film details and a solid essay about the film. Most importantly, on the other side it gives us a full-length photo of Jenny in her small and effective costume.

Film noir and then some . . ........2006-09-01

This neatly contrived story involving murder, love, lust, a police investigation, and pleasant music hall interludes ranges in quick order across a range of genres, layering escapist entertainment, suspense, and sentiment over dramatic ironies, comic absurdities, and psychological realism that all look ahead to a style of filmmaking well suited to a postmodern sensibility. With so much going on in one film, you have to hang onto your seat as you're propelled through multiple turns of plot and a large cast of characters all converging in a final point of narrative impact - and on Christmas Eve. Sounds complicated, but this classic of post-war French cinema is great fun.

The DVD includes a discussion of the film, made for French TV in the 1970s, in which the pipe-smoking director, Clouzot, reveals among other things that he wrote the script based on his memory of an out of print book - the result apparently bearing little resemblance to the original. Included are comments by the three principals, who remember Clouzot's direction as dictatorial and heavy-handed. Meanwhile, the interviewer characterizes the film as "cynical" in its vision - hardly an observation viewers would make today. Also recommended, the classic film noir "Touchez Pas le Grisbi."

A perfect film?.......2006-08-01

This work presents arguably the greatest ambiguity ever filmed.

The plot revolves around a murder but everything else is ambiguous to the viewer and even to the characters in the movie until the very end. Who killed the victim? Who will be charged with the crime? Who believes that they themself killed the victim? Who is believed by who to have killed the victim? And what does the viewer believe about all this? The answers to these questions change scene by scene, with the one constant being that these questions never have the same answer until the end of the movie.

The movie's style is equally ambiguous... Is it a noir where the sins of the lead characters appear certain to bring about their fall? Or is it a classic detective story where the relentless investigator traps the perpretator in their own lies? Is it a story of love? And if so, between who? Or one of jealousy? Ultimately it ends up as a love story because it is the many overlapping bonds of love that propel the plot, define the characters, and bring this movie to its spectacular conclusion.

So if you love noir, you MUST see this film. It is the only movie you will ever see where a single scene late in the movie changes the entire previous movie from a noir to a love story.

"I'm a funny kind of girl.".......2005-06-21

In post WWII France, vaudeville singer Jenny Lamour (Suzy Delair) and her husband/accompanist Maurice Martineau (Bernard Blier) make an unlikely pair. She's an effervescent extrovert, and while he's a good husband, he's a dullard, and just doesn't seem to be her type. Jenny--a rather kinetic creature with a beautiful voice--has a stage act that is suggestive and flirtatious, but she always assures her husband that he's the only man for her. Jenny's career is on an upward swing when she goes to the photography studio of Dora (Simone Renant) a close friend of Maurice. Here Jenny comes to the attention of a hideous old lecher named Brignon (Charles Dullin). Dora warns Jenny to stay away from Brignon, but Jenny doesn't take her advice. She thinks Brignon can further her career. Brignon's continued interest in Jenny causes Maurice to threaten Brignon publicly.

When Brignon shows up dead, police Inspector Antoine (Louis Jouvet) investigates the murder, and Maurice is soon the main suspect.

The film's title, "Quai des Orfevres" refers to the address of the police station where Inspector Antoine conducts most of his interviews in this French Noir crime film. Inspector Antoine seems to be another dull, sour, unprepossessing character, but as an expert in human nature, he unravels all of the suspects' secrets. Consequently, the murder of Brignon takes a back seat to the characters involved in the investigation. There's a generosity towards the foibles of human nature that seeps through every scene. Some of the language and the characters seem startling modern, and in the end "the case boils down to the usual: diddly squat." From director/writer Henri-George Clouzet, Quai des Orfevres is a black and white film in French with English subtitles--displacedhuman

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