Franchot Tone has murdered and framed Brugess Meredith very neatly for it. Charles Laughton knows it -- he's Maigret, after all -- but can he prove it?
I wonder how much of this movie's production was inspired by its title and the impulse to recreate the ending of The Naked City and beat White Heat to the punch. I can see Charles Laughton in the role of Maigret, and he does what he can with it, but here he's simply a fat French flic who smokes a pipe. All of Simenon's contempt for the middle class is lost in the simplicity of Tone's megalomania; if he's batty, how well can he represent the people Simenon despises? Instead, it becomes a matter of Laughton baiting Tone for the big reaction, which is unnecessary.
Still, there is some magnificent photography of Paris by cinematographer Stanley Cortez, even if the Anscocolor prints have not survived three quarters of a century in pristine condition.
I wonder how much of this movie's production was inspired by its title and the impulse to recreate the ending of The Naked City and beat White Heat to the punch. I can see Charles Laughton in the role of Maigret, and he does what he can with it, but here he's simply a fat French flic who smokes a pipe. All of Simenon's contempt for the middle class is lost in the simplicity of Tone's megalomania; if he's batty, how well can he represent the people Simenon despises? Instead, it becomes a matter of Laughton baiting Tone for the big reaction, which is unnecessary.
Still, there is some magnificent photography of Paris by cinematographer Stanley Cortez, even if the Anscocolor prints have not survived three quarters of a century in pristine condition.