Quai Des Orfèvres | ||||
Henri-Georges Clouzot Louis Jouvet, Suzy Delair, Bernard Blier, Simone Renant, Charles Dullin 1949 In French; English subtitles; collection of intimate interview excerpts from French television with director Henri-Georges Clouzot and key "Quai des Orfèvres" actors, filmed in 1971; poster gallery; new essay by Luc Sante; original theatrical trailer. |
Before he formulated the indelible classics of world cinema "Wages of Fear" and "Diabolique," French director Henri-Georges Clouzot made "Quai des Orfèvres," a subtly developing, completely enveloping murder mystery set in the slowly waking, still fairly shell-shocked environs of post-World War II Paris. "Quai des Orfèvres" does more than hint at Clouzot's potential; it shows him in top form, expanding on a familiar genre with attention to the psychological tides that batter people and the cultural details that enrich their lives. Carefree chanteuse Jenny Lamour (Suzy Delair) and her husband/accompanist Maurice (Bernard Blier) may be connected with the killing of a slimy old movie financier with a hankering for pretty young things. Even the couple's neighbor beautiful, sexually ambiguous photographer Dora (Simone Renant) is a suspect when the relentless detective Inspector Antoine (the distinguished Louis Jouvet) is on the case. Clouzot provides the requisite tension and thrills, while precisely balancing an insider's view of show business at a Paris music hall and police business at the Quai des Orfèvres, the Parisian equivalent of London's Scotland Yard. | |||
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