Quai des Orfevres (1947)
Louis Jouvet as Inspector Antoine makes this movie. Seriously, he walks in halfway through and just starts blowing people off the screen. The film would be good even without him, but damn. Oh yeah, the film... it's excellent. Compared to the other H.G. Clouzot films I've seen (Diabolique and The Wages of Fear), it's not as ruthless or nerve-shredding, but it has something that the other two don't: humanity. As the tale unfolds, it moves from a hard-luck film noir story into something altogether more affecting -- an examination of commitment, family and the things we do for love. Coming from the mind of Clouzot, whose films were often downright misanthropic, that's a head-spinner of a surprise. Engaging, deep, tense and altogether unmissable, this one is.
Grade: A
Louis Jouvet as Inspector Antoine makes this movie. Seriously, he walks in halfway through and just starts blowing people off the screen. The film would be good even without him, but damn. Oh yeah, the film... it's excellent. Compared to the other H.G. Clouzot films I've seen (Diabolique and The Wages of Fear), it's not as ruthless or nerve-shredding, but it has something that the other two don't: humanity. As the tale unfolds, it moves from a hard-luck film noir story into something altogether more affecting -- an examination of commitment, family and the things we do for love. Coming from the mind of Clouzot, whose films were often downright misanthropic, that's a head-spinner of a surprise. Engaging, deep, tense and altogether unmissable, this one is.
Grade: A
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