Man on the Eiffel Tower

Starring:Belita, Chaz Chase, William Cottrell (II), Robert Hutton, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Charles Laughton, William Phipps, Patricia Roc, George Thorpe, Franchot Tone, Howard Vernon, Jean Wallace
Director: Charles Laughton, Irving Allen
Studio: Alpha Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Very glad that I bought it!

The Man on the Eiffel Tower
Starring: Belita , Coaz Chase , William Cottrell , Wilfrid Hyde-White , and William Phipps
Director: Burgess Meredith
Manufacturer: Miracle Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00062IX38
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Customer Reviews:

Very glad that I bought it!.......2006-02-22

When Bill Kirby (played by Robert Hutton) muses out loud that he would gladly pay someone a million francs to murder his rich aunt, he little realizes that someone has overheard and accepts the offer. Soon, events take on a life of their own, as the aunt is murdered and a fall guy (Burgess Meredith) is set up to take the blame. However, Inspector Jules Maigret (Charles Laughton) is on the case, and he soon realizes that he will have to dig deep to get to the bottom of this case...and he does!

In 1950, actor Burgess Meredith directed this, his one and only movie. This movie is a film adaptation of Georges Simenon's A Battle of Nerves, and is quite interesting. Veteran actor Charles Laughton makes a very interesting Maigret, and the story is quite gripping. I enjoyed the scenes of post-WW2 Paris, and loved the movie.

On the down-side, this movie definitely shows its age. There are skips in the movie, marking lost pieces of film, and the color is washed out and in terrible need of remastering. But, that said, this is an interesting movie, and a great detective story (but, alas, no mystery, you quickly find out who the real murderer was).

I would highly recommend this movie to all fans of Charles Laughton, Commissaire Maigret, or of great old movies. I loved this movie, and am very glad that I bought it!

Average customer rating:

Disappointing crime thriller
"He had a remarkable flair for sensing your weakness."
A Psychological Thriller With A Fine Franchot Tone Performance And A Poor DVD Transfer
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
Very good movie....EXTREAMLY poor transfer. BEWARE

Man on the Eiffel Tower
Starring: Belita , Chaz Chase , William Cottrell (II) , Robert Hutton , and Wilfrid Hyde-White
Director: Charles Laughton , and Irving Allen
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000A0DVP
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing crime thriller.......2006-12-27

"The Man on the Eiffel Tower", one of two films directed by superb actor Burgess Meredith who also starred in it, considering the accomplished cast was a colossal failure. Not only was the film transfer awful, but the sophomoric, disjointed plot was only saved by the footage shot around Paris.

Impatient heir Bill Kirby played by Robert Hutton wishes his rich aunt dead so he can inherit the funds to dump his wife to be with his mistress. His conversation is overheard by ham actor Franchot Tone playing boisterous, psychopathic and penniless medical student Johann Radek. Tone conspires to murder the aunt and poor knife grinder Joseph Heurtin who is also a part time bungling burglar stumbles into the murder scene and gets implicated.

The esteemed Charles Laughton's talents are wasted in his role as police Inspector Maigret who is taunted by Tone as he conducts his investigation into the murder. The tepid drama concludes with a chase scene on the steel girders of the Eiffel Tower, which was the highlight of a mostly poor effort.

"He had a remarkable flair for sensing your weakness.".......2006-05-05

Based on a novel by Simenon, "Man on the Eiffel Tower" is a noir thriller set in Paris. The story begins when Bill Kirby, the heir-in-waiting for his wealthy aunt's estate goes to a Parisian restaurant to meet his wife Helen (Patricia Roc) and mistress Edna Wallace (Jean Wallace). The meeting is a bit of a showdown--Kirby wants to divorce his wife and marry Edna, but Helen Kirby wants a big payoff. Helen bemoans the fact that she married Bill in the belief that he'd inherit money, but with Kirby's aunt inconveniently still alive, it doesn't look as though he's going to get rich soon.

As Kirby leaves the restaurant, he receives a note signed with the initials M.V. It seems that M.V. overheard the conversation and offers to murder Kirby's aunt. Later, knife sharpener and would-be burglar Joseph Heurtin (Burgess Meredith) coincidentally breaks into the Aunt's mansion, and he discovers her brutally stabbed to death. He confronts the killer, who makes a bargain with Huertin ....

Inspector Maigret (Charles Laughton) investigates the crime, and while he doesn't believe that Huertin is responsible for the brutal stabbing deaths of two women, he's content to use Huertin as part of an elaborate cat-and-mouse game he plays with the real killer, egomaniac Johann Radek (Franchot Tone).

"Man on the Eiffel Tower"--directed by Burgess Meredith--has all the elements of a good thriller, but unfortunately, it's hampered by a muddled plot that's laced with giant holes. The film includes many wonderful scenes of Paris--and particularly of the Eiffel Tower as the title suggests. Charles Laughton is always great fun to watch, and he's really perfect in this film as the laconic inspector who patiently stalks his man.

Be warned that this Alpha DVD release is a terrible print. The film is supposed to be in colour, but most of it is in sepia tones. Some scenes shift in tone--in other words, the scene begins in sepia tones, shifts to black, white and greys, and then shifts to colour. Words skip, and in a couple of spots, the film begins to shift out of focus. That said, it's watchable, so it's up to you whether or not you'll find this acceptable or tolerable--displacedhuman

A Psychological Thriller With A Fine Franchot Tone Performance And A Poor DVD Transfer.......2006-02-05

The Man on the Eiffel Tower is an odd failure of a movie. It's disjointed, has no sympathetic characters except Inspector Maigret and his cops, features an overbearing music score and relies heavily on scenic Paris to maintain interest. What I find intriguing is the work of the three lead actors, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone and Burgess Meredith, especially Tone. The story itself picks up steam in the last half, and the final chase, through the iron structure of the Eiffel Tower, is fascinating and suspenseful. While elements of the plot are discussed below, everything is known to the viewer within the first 15 minutes.

It's Paris in the late Forties. A young man (Robert Hutton), with his wife (Patricia Roc) and his girl friend (Jean Wallace), is overheard in a bar bemoaning how long it will most likely take before his rich aunt dies and he will inherit a great deal of money. A few days later the aunt is stabbed to death. It's clear that the nephew and the man who overheard his conversation made an agreement. By chance a poor sharpener of knives, Joseph Huertin (Burgess Meredith), almost blind even when he is wearing his thick eyeglasses, burgled the mansion the same night of the killing. He discovered the bodies (the aunt's maid had been killed, too), bloodied his hands and met the murderer, whom he could not recognize. Huertin is caught, but police inspector Jules Maigret doesn't believe he did it. What follows is a cat and mouse game between Maigret and a former medical student, a clever, often charming psychopath named Johan Radek (Franchot Tone). As one of his former professors tells Maigret, "Radek had a remarkable flair for sensing the weaknesses of others." Maigret slowly lays traps for Radek, and Radek taunts and leads Maigret on. The climax is the chase up the Eiffel Tower, with Radek climbing through the iron superstructure, followed by Huertin, with Maigret ascending by the cable-pulled passenger car.

The city of Paris plays an important role in this movie. It was shot on location, and the film is stuffed with visions of the city, from the Cafe Les Deux Maggots, reputed to be the oldest cafe in the city, where much of the plot bubbles, to the elegant Hotel George V, from the Champs-Elyses to the Seine to narrow streets and rooftops. It's a fascinating look at the city, made even more appealing now by the absence of crushing traffic. The interior of the Eiffel Tower becomes an iron maze of trusses, beams and open stair steps.

Laughton plays Maigret as perhaps too avuncular, but his Maigret is just as clever and shrewd as the original. Meredith's role as the nearly blind Huertin is probably less sympathetic than was intended. The character is simply too dull-witted to feel much empathy toward. Tone, on the other hand, plays Radek with great unbalanced charm. He buys Maigret lunch one afternoon at the restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower to preen in his cleverness. Tone manages to combine ego, menace and hysteria in one long monologue directed at Maigret. Franchot Tone has always seemed to me to be an underrated actor. He was a star in the Thirties but slipped steadily down throughout the Forties. His private life was often messy. Still, he could do more with less than most actors and was always, in my view, well worth watching.

The first half of the movie is contrived and disjointed, with Radek barely appearing. When a tense plot point looks as if it's going to be developed, more often that not an excuse for one more scenic chase through Paris arises. The second half of the movie, however, starts to cook. The duel between Radek and Maigret takes over, Maigret sets his traps and Radek's ego leads him to dangerously underestimate Maigret. The last 20 minutes are worth waiting for.

The Alpha Video is in bad shape. The film was shot in Ansco Color, which has degraded to the point where most every thing is sepia. The quality of the transfer is poor, with many flaws. The picture is soft and fuzzy. The audio is acceptable. There are no extras and only six chapter stops.

The film must have been a labor of love that didn't work out. Franchot Tone was the co-producer with Irving Allen, who was set to direct. He started filming, then Laughton demanded that Allen be replaced by Burgess Meredith, who then had Laughton direct the scenes in which Meredith appeared. After the movie failed at the box office, Allen bought the rights and buried the film for years. While The Man on the Eiffel Tower is not a successful film, it has much to enjoy. It deserves a better release than it got from Alpha Video.

The Man on the Eiffel Tower.......2004-09-22

I bought this in VCR @ around $6. The tape is god afull! I have reordered it in VCR @14.99 & hopefully the picture will not blank out every few seconds. As for the DVD, I read the review on it, & it appears this title needs a reissue by someone with a mint copy from the Studio. My $6 copy was from Alpha Video Distributorsin NJ. They ought to be ashamed of releasing such a lousy copy for sale at any price. This is not worth a wooden nickle.

Very good movie....EXTREAMLY poor transfer. BEWARE.......2003-09-25

With this being a very difficult movie to get a hold of, I was thrilled it was getting a DVD release. Now I know why the price tag is so low on it.

I have seen better transfers of films from UHF TV stations in the middle of the night. It is grainy beyond belief, with a scratchy distorted soundtrack, and has so many splices in parts it makes it laughable. (remember those BBC 'Benny Hill' sketches with "Cheapo Films" when the splices in the film distorted the scene you were viewing ? This is what we are talking about here, folks....) Making matters worse, the colors are so badly faded it resembles a black & white film. Night sequences turn blue, skin tones turn yellow, whites turn light tan/bone....you get the point.

GOTHAM DISTRIBUTION should be ashamed of themselves for ever allowing a product this poor to be released to the general public. I realize they think a $7-8 price tag is reasonable enough...I, personally, wouldn't pay more than 99 cents. Its barely worth that alone. I will never purchase anything by GOTHAM Distribution again. What a joke !

amazon.com

In Paris, a down and out medical student Johann Radek (Franchot Tone) is paid by Bill Kirby (Robert Hutton) to murder his wealthy aunt. A knife grinder (Burgess Meredith) is suspected, but Radek keeps taunting the police until they realize that he is the killer. The police and Maigret (Charles Laughton) are led on chases through the streets and over the rooftops of Paris and finally up the girders of the Eiffel Tower.

Last Time I Saw Paris / Man on the Eiffel Tower

Average customer rating:

Last Time I Saw Paris / Man on the Eiffel Tower
Starring: Franchot Tone Van Johnson , and Charles Laughton Walter Pidgeon
Manufacturer: Eastwestdvd
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

DVD
Double Feature

ASIN: B000EET9I6

Product Description

A double feature DVD. Each has 2 different movie titles on 1 DVD.

Mystery Movie Marathon Volume 6: 8 Movie Pack

Average customer rating:

Mystery Movie Marathon Volume 6: 8 Movie Pack

Manufacturer: RightNow Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

BONUS: Each movie comes with a portable-media friendly version that can be downloaded to your Apple iPod!
Eight feature films on four DVDs
Bulldog Drummonds Peril;Dick Tracy vs. Cueball;Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet;The Kennel Murder Case;Quicksand;The Man on the Eiffel Tower;Jigsaw;Scarlet Street

ASIN: B000GW56A6

Product Description

The legends of Mystery are gathered here for you in this definitive DVD collection of some of the greatest Mystery classics to ever come out of Hollywood. This 8 DVD collection is sure to provide you with countless hours of entertainment. Mystery Movie Marathon Volume 6: 8 Movie Pack includes: Bulldog Drummonds Peril directed by James Hogan and starring John Howard; Dick Tracy vs. Cueball directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Morgan Conway; Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Reginald Owen; The Kennel Murder Case directed by William Curtiz and starring William Powell; Quicksand directed by Irving Pichel and starring Mickey Rooney; The Man on the Eiffel Tower directed by Burgess Meredith and starring Burgess Meredith; Jigsaw directed by Fletcher Markle and starring Franchot Tone; Scarlet Street directed by Fritz Lang and starring Edward G. Robinson

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