The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (L’assassin habite… au 21)
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Written by Henri-Georges Clousot and Stanislas-Andre Steeman
1942/France
First viewing/Hulu Plus
[box] Monsieur Colin: Life has never been very kind to me. And when I say life, I mean people. People are evil, father. [/box]
One part whodunit, one part black comedy, and one part film noir, this early effort by Master of Suspense Henri-Georges Clouzot (Diabolique, The Wages of Fear) is well worth a look.
Serial killer Monsieur Durand seems to slay with impunity, thumbing his nose at police by leaving his calling card with the body of each new victim. Inspector Wenseslaus Wens (Pierre Fresnay) is on the case as is his annoying chanteuse live-in girlfriend Mila (Suzy Delair), who hopes that solving the crime will get her work. Wens gets a break when a furniture remover finds a cache of Durand’s cards in a trunk located in the attic of a boarding house.
Wens rents a room there, disguised as a Protestant minister. He finds plenty of suspects in the seedy establishment, but each is eliminated as the murders continue despite several arrests. Wens promises to reveal the killer at a soiree held at the boarding house to celebrate clearing the names of the tenants. It would be criminal to reveal the nifty twist ending.
I thought this was a whole lot of fun. The intricate plot highlights Clouzot’s already characteristic misanthropy as well as considerable wit. The visuals are stylish and beautiful and I adore Fresnay anew with each performance. Recommended.
Clouzot made this film for Continental Films, which was owned by the Nazi government. This and other films he made during the war were used as grounds to ban him from future involvement in the film industry for life at his post-war trial for collaboration with the enemy. Fortunately for future generations of film buffs, his sentence was soon commuted to two years.
Clip – opening
