In French with subs.
This is the first of Albert Préjean's three portrayals of Maigret
during the German occupation in France. Like Cecile is Dead (1944), you would
never know. There isn't a German to be seen and no mention of them. It was
safer that way. Fortunately, all three of these films are available with
English subtitles. I am a big fan of Simenon's Maigret from the books to
the films to the TV shows. Lately, I have been occasionally watching an episode
from the 1960 TV show with Rupert Davies as the Inspector. They are quite
good. There was also a 1964 series out of Belgium, a 1967 series out of France,
a 1991 series with Bruno Cremer, a 1992 series with Michael Gambon as Maigret
(also quite good) and the recent series with Rowan Atkinson who is better
than you might expect. Clearly, there are a lot of fans out there. Partly
because Simenon is a wonderful writer, sparse in his storytelling, Maigret
is the sort of policemen that we wish they were all like - he browbeats his
suspects with conversation and coffee, he creates a Paris where you wish
you were in a small café having a Pernod (whatever that is) and the
crimes are often quite clever and the solutions more so.
That is the case here. A very complicated crime that Maigret unravels with
perhaps too much speed. All the reveals come at you like a hurricane in the
final few minutes and I honestly wasn't sure who did what - so I ordered
the book on Kindle to find out! But even so it is good fun to watch. Préjean
isn't much like the Maigret of the books - a smaller man full of energy -
Maigret of the books loves his drinks in the bistros during working hours
- and he gets into a good punch em up here which I don't recall Maigret ever
doing. I am curious whether he does in the book - Signed Picpus. The publishing
date is 1944 which is interesting in that the film came out a year before.
Préjean is very effective as an investigator and with a puckish sense
of humor throughout. He was a big star back then.
Maigret is on holiday sleeping under a newspaper using an assumed name so
that no one will know who he is. Madame Maigret is never mentioned in the
film. His right-hand man Lucas shows up saying that he is needed back in
Paris. Maigret shoos him away but then Lucas intrigues Maigret with the murder.
A woman has moved to another apartment and when she opened the wardrobe a
dead woman was inside. From a neat clean incision into her throat. Nice housewarming
gift. Once there, the inspector notices a man sitting at a window directly
across the alley. Perhaps a witness. Except he is blind and dead. Shot in
the head. Two murders for the price of one. And an elderly man is locked
in the kitchen who tells Maigret he is insane and he certainly seems to be.
It is a serpentine journey to the solution with many truths uncovered on
the way. In one side bit, Maigret goes to a convention of men who dress up
like Indians, shoot arrows and have beautiful models on display. Because
models and Indians go so well together. The things we used to do.
Ps - the book skips right over the first two murders and starts with the
third.
