Personal Column

1939 [FRENCH]

Action / Crime / Musical / Romance / Thriller

IMDb Rating 6.9/10 10 438 438

paris, france musical french noir

Plot summary

To try solving the strange disappearances of 11 young Parisian women, the police obtain the services of Adrienne Charpentier, friend of the latest missing person.

Director

Robert Siodmak Photo
Robert Siodmak

Top cast

Robert Seller Photo
Robert Seller as Carioni
Philippe Richard Photo
Philippe Richard as L'avocat
Maurice Chevalier Photo
Maurice Chevalier as Robert Fleury
Erich von Stroheim Photo
Erich von Stroheim as Pears
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.01 GB
988*720
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds ...
1.88 GB
1472*1072
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by AAdaSC 7 / 10

Single female wanted

Catherine Farel (Lucie) tells her dance club friend Marie Déa (Adrienne) that she has found a way out of the nightclub hostess lifestyle by responding to a personal ad. Uh-oh, Farel has just become the latest victim of a serial murderer who lures his victims by placing personal ads. Déa is approached by Chief of Police André Brunot to work undercover by responding to personal ads and seeking out this killer. She accepts the mission.This is an odd film because it flits between tense thriller and musical comedy, especially with the introduction of Maurice Chevalier (Robert). The film goes on too long because of this attempt to blend all the different genres and the songs by Chevalier are just not needed. The film holds some surprises and it is a good story. Déa should be top-billed as it is her thread that we follow and she has amusing and weird encounters with some lonely people placing advertisements. All the cast are good in their roles - and Erich von Stroheim (Pears) plays a lunatic fashionista who has totally lost the plot. The film has a tense ending and things don't become clear until then when you get that moment of realization. There are some strange and dangerous people in this world.
Reviewed by boblipton 6 / 10

Murders And Chevalier Singing

Catherine Farrell tells fellow taxi dancer Marie Déa that she has a way out of the poor racket. She's answering a personal ad for a young single girl, with the possibility of matrimony. Then she disappears from the face of the earth. The police call in Mlle Déa. This is not the only case of this happening. She is a smart girl, who works as a translator and is observant. They agree she will answer suspicious ads with police detective Jean Témerson standing nearby. Some of people who answer these ads turn out to be bizarre, like Erich von Stroheim. Some are sweet and silly, like the young boy who shows up with flowers. In the course of these, she meets night club impressario Maurice Chevalier and his partner, Pierre Renoir. Chevalier pursues her, singing a couple of songs along the way, she cracks open a white slavery ring, all is wonderful, and then....It was later remade as LURED with Lucille Ball in Mlle Déa's role; interestingly, Michel Michelet wrote the scores for both movies. But this one is not film noir, despite Siodmak's position in the genre during his American stay. It's not even magical realism. It seems to be half psychological thriller, and then when Chevalier shows up, it turns into a musical comedy. Director Robert Siodmak handles both tones well, with the Chevalier stuff never getting too light, and the psychological drama and darkness growing heavy only in the last half hour. Although I found the plunge into that last thirty minutes abrupt, it remained gripping throughout.
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