A murder takes place at a boarding house full of eccentrics, each one a likely suspect. Clouzot, whose films are generally dark in character, made his feature debut with this delightful comedy-thriller of ‘The Thin Man’ type. The films is not one of these intimidating masterpieces that mark the history of [French] cinema. It is an unpretentious and entertaining piece, solidly built around 2 main centers of interest: the sarcastic and spicy exploration of a boarding house and the colourful fauna living inside it”. Reference: Le Nouvel Observateur, 3 April 1987. German censorship had all the scenes featuring Linz’s interrogation cut out of the film because they were judged too violent. Clouzot had asked the actors playing the police not to fake the action and actor Noel Roquevert who plays Linz finished the scene with a swollen face.
Credits: Director, Henri-Georges Clouzot ; writer, Henri-Georges Clouzot ; photography, Armand Thirard ; music, Maurice Yvain.
Cast: Pierre Fresnay, Suzy Delair, Pierre Larquey, Noel Roquevert, Jean Tissier, Louis Florencie, Raymond Bussieres, Odette Talazac, Marc Natol, Huguette Vivier.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000523
Languages
English
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)