morrison-dylan-fan With a friends birthday coming up,I felt that it would be the perfect time to introduce her to the work of auteur film maker Henri-Georges Clouzot. Struggling to find a title which would appear the most accessible,I remembered reading an excellent review by a fellow IMDber on a Clouzot movie which features a light comedy touch,which led to me getting ready to visit number 21.The plot:Walking back home after winning the lottery jackpot,a man is killed by a stranger,who leaves a card with "Monsieur Durand" written on it.As the killing spree continues and the press discover that a serial killer is terrorising the streets, L'inspecteur Wenceslas Wens is told that he must uncover the identity of the stranger in 3 days time,or he will be sacked from the police.Ignoring his girlfriend Mila Malou's failing attempts to become a stage star,Wens finds himself hitting nothing but dead ends.Giving Wens his first glimmer of hope,a former criminal goes to Wens to tell him that he recently got some furniture from a boarding house called 21,Rue Junot,which contained the "Durand" cards that are left next to the victim.Desperate to track down Durand,Wens decides to take up a room at the place by pretending to be a pastor.As he starts to build character profiles for each of his fellow guests,Wens is caught by surprise,when he discovers that Malou has also gone undercover as a guest in Rue Junot,in order to help Wens uncover Durand's true identity.View on the film:Before I get to the film,I have to mention that Masters of Cinema have given the film a fantastic transfer,with the picture perfectly capturing the atmospheres that Clouzot is building,and the sharp audio allowing the audience to hear ever murder that Durand makes. Transferring from being the main screenwriter for the Nazi- controlled studio Continental Films to directing one of their titles,co-writer/(along with Stanislas-André Steeman) director Henri-Georges Clouzot marks his feature film debut with a tremendous, stylised precision. Capturing the darkness that France was trapped in,Clouzot and cinematographer Armand Thirard give the murders a brittle texture,thanks to Clouzot & Thirard placing the viewer in Durland's mind with long first-person tracking shots,which force the viewer to be face to face with the victim.Unleashing a decaying Film Noir atmosphere by soaking the streets of France in raw grey and blacks,Clouzot and Thirard reveal a remarkable delicacy in crossing two distinctive moods smoothly over each other.Clouzot packs 21 Rue Junot with Screwball Comedy characters who are each given their moment to shine in a soft,contrasting light,whilst never making the Film Noir tension freeze,by each of the Screwball punchlines leading Wens and Malou close to uncovering Durand.Spending the last few years working for a Nazi- run studio,Clouzot takes a clever,subtle approach to attacking the Nazis, (who demanded that Clouzot change the films location from the UK to France)which goes from residences of 21,Rue Junot seeing the murder victims as worthless "outsiders",to the Durand's identity being revealed in connection to a Nazi salute.Following Georges Lacombe's near-forgotten first adaptation of Stanislas-André Steeman's Wens/Malou books,the screenplay by Clouzot give Wens & Malou's relationship a charming playfulness,due to both of them being given opposing personalities,with Malou shooting witty one liners across the screen,whilst Wens digs deeper in 21,Rue Junot's Film Noir foundations.As the couple shoot Screwball punch lines at each other,Clouzot keeps the harsh Film Noir atmosphere building to an excellent conclusion,via always keeping Durland's murder cards one step ahead of the duo,as Durland's cards go from landing on an unlucky lottery winner,to being left covered in blood right outside the police station.Reuniting after Lacombe's title,the cute Suzy Delair, (who along with being a singer on the stage,was also Clouzot's girlfriend) and Pierre Fresnay both give wonderful performances as Wens/Malou. Bouncing across the screen,Delair gives Malou the perfect elegance,which allow Malou to have fun flirting at Wens,whilst making sure that the seriousness of the killings is always towering above Malou.Catching each of Malou's sly glances, Pierre Fresnay gives a great performance as Wens,with Fresnay kicking Wens desperation to uncover Durland with a silky-smooth,charismatic charm,as Clouzot reveals what is hidden inside 21,Rue Junot.

faterson This is a nice, light-hearted prelude to the masterpieces Henri-Georges Clouzot was to create in later years, starting right off in the following year with _Le Corbeau_.What unites both _Le Corbeau_ and _L'assassin habite au 21_, is the leading star Pierre Fresnay; he's excellent in both movies, although a lot more sombre in _Le Corbeau_ (of course), whereas here, he seems to be and behaves like a French variation of Cary Grant of the screwball era. (Indeed, he could have been intended to serve as just that, due to US movies being illegal in France at the time.) Another aspect uniting the two movies is their political sterility; no wonder, both having been made under German occupation of France; yet, funnily enough, it's possible to uncover political metaphors in both movies, although not as clearly here in _L'assassin habite au 21_, which is a comedy just as much as it is a murder mystery. So, you could try and uncover hidden meanings behind the police officers' "passing the buck" from one to another, everyone refusing to assume responsibility; or that (spoiler!) the culprit is shown to be a collective body of people, rather than an individual.The dialogues are witty, smart, fast-moving, and surprisingly fresh for a movie that is over 70 years old. Eroticism abounds. The supporting cast is nice, and Jean Tissier shines as Lallah Poor, the fakir.Very nice black-and-white cinematography, at times in pointedly plush settings (as if to distract the cinema-goers from the ongoing war); you get a nice overview of fashion of France in the early 1940s; see not just all the ladies in the movie (including the "matron" character played by Odette Talazac), but also the three little girls (the grocer's daughters) giggling in the audience -- where would you find kids dressed elaborately like that nowadays? Even though this is (also) a comedy, you can sense that the director has the touch for the "noir"; the scenes in Paris back alleys (particularly the murderous one at the beginning of the movie, shot from a unique "first-person" perspective) already show the proper atmosphere that was to make Clouzot famous in his later films. On the whole, therefore, _L'assassin habite au 21_ is a curious mixture and integration of at least 3 elements, each of them succeeding in its own right: comedy (particularly in exchanges between the detective and his girlfriend); Agatha Christie-like whodunnit; and noir overtones -- as if always looming in the background, and something a lot more sinister than your typical cozy domestic murder-mystery. The culprits are shown to be thoroughly nasty human beings, as if the director wanted to suggest: they are the rule, dear audience, rather than exceptions.The movie is only 84 minutes long, but feels longer due to all the rapid talk, fast action and rich content. Although _L'assassin habite au 21_ may not be great art, it's definitely an example of quality entertainment.

dbdumonteil In 1941,Georges Lacombe made "le dernier des six",adapted from a Stanislas André Steeman book.Clouzot wrote the script,and introduced his girlfriend Suzy Delair (Mila Malou, a character whom he created from start to finish,Steeman's sleuth M.Wens was a bachelor).So here we are again:a new Steeman detective story (probably his masterpiece),Fresnay as the sleuth,and Delair a pain in the neck of a singer.(She had begun to "launch " her " career" of chanteuse in "le dernier des six";I recommend this earlier work to all these who enjoyed the 1942 movie)Steeman did not like the adaptation.The couple Delair/FResnay was not his cup of tea,and anyway,like Hercule Poirot doesn't investigate in "and then there were none",M.Wens (therefore Mila Malou,Clouzot's invention)is absent from the novel "l'assassin habite au 21".But what infuriated Steeman,twas mainly that his story was set in London,and Clouzot (German Occupation) was compelled to film in Paris.What's the matter?Clouzot's first opus,is a gem,one of these mysteries with the ending you'll never guess.Agatha Christie's fans will relish watching that!Shall I give a clue ?Mathematically,it's a ternary notation.Computers,you can forget it!For the rest,my lips are sealed.All Clouzot's work ,all that he will brilliantly develop in subsequent works is already here :a rotten microcosm (the boarding-house with a lot of wicked old people predates the school in "les diaboliques" and the small town in "le corbeau".His sarcastic humor shines here there and everywhere.He asserts his extraordinary skills by detailing the supporting characters.Of course a diabolical suspense (and admire the elegance of Clouzot's style,when Fresnay/Wens finds out what's been going on.)In a nutshell,a serial killer is rampant in town:they discover his address.Alas it's a boarding-house!So whodunit?Sometimes I wonder whether this charming thriller might not be superior to the renowned "le corbeau" which was released the following year.With it,a director who influenced countless ones was born.

gans This light murder mystery, with Pierre Fresnay as the cool detective and the delightful (if a bit overwhelming) Suzy Delair as his "sidekick," somewhat a la Nick & Nora Charles, is in style and casting (Fresnay, Pierre Larquey, Noel Roquevert), sexual tension, even theme - the ambiguity of criminal responsibility - a prelude to Clouzot's far more significant Le corbeau (1943). The Fresnay-Delair duo brings fresh air to the claustrophobic space of Vichy cinema.