Maigret (TV Series) My Friend the Inspector (1960) User Reviews

Implausible premise for murder

[Sir_Oblong_Fitzoblong · 6/10 · 25 February 2022]

The story hinges on characters of varying degrees of wealth and aspects of their lives and lifestyle but, as in several other episodes, the wealthy are not portrayed in a sufficiently convincing way to make the relevant key plot elements plausible. This is of course partly due to the limitations of the medium at the time but more imaginative adapting in the script could have improved things enormously.

As too often in series 1, Davies has to carry too much of the weight among too many amateurs (shown up by the professional and underated Toke Townley).

1960s Maigret - a blast from the past

[Tony-Holmes · 27 February 2022]

This first series is being shown on the UK's excellent Talking Pictures channel.

The quality is picking up by the time we got to this one, about 7 or 8 in the episodes.

Sure the budget was low, and the scenery for the interiors was Crossroads or Compact style shaky (if you're too young to know those shows, ask grandad or granny?!), but Davies & Solon are great, and the stories are pretty well told, given the substantial restrictions of having to be done in just an hour, a fact which the 2 other reviewers so far on here don't seem to have noticed.

Later series with Gambon as the lead, and Rowan Atkinson (so-so, and not the Maigret as in the books) stretched over a more leisurely timeframe, up to 2 hours for the RA ones, and that obviously lets the production mirror the book story more closely.

One review moans about the other actors being largely "amateur". This is grossly ill-informed!! This series was made about 1960, BBC had been going a little while, but was only on for limited times (nothing like today's 24-hr TV!) and ITV was just getting going -- there just was not that much for actors to be IN, on TV, so they were learning in a hurry!

This episode was actually OK, quite nicely told, (given the time limits), and the acting was generally pretty good, for that era. I'm looking forward to more!

The Doyen of TV detectives

[ygwerin1 · 9/10 · 19 April 2022]

This was one of my favourite TV series in the 1960's and I was surprised and delighted to find that it was to be screened again on Talking Pictures TV, and equally surprised to find that all of the original episodes were not only available but to be recorded onto DVD. Why might I be surprised because it was an unfortunate practice of the BBC in the 1950's and 60's to not bother to record programmes, as many especially comedy ones were broadcast live. Of those few programmes that were taped the BBC invariably erroneously considered that they were not worthy, of being kept for posterity and the tapes were either wiped or recorded over.

I had intended to watch every episode but unfortunately I haven't remembered the nights of broadcast and I haven't actually got around to viewing many of them, I was particularly interested with this episode in recognising one of the actors. Pete Murray who was Philippe the paramour of the wealthy Mrs Wilcox, I was particularly surprised to see him acting as I had only seen on the telly, introducing shows like the 65 Special an early pop music show.

Reading the handful of reviews here I am not at all surprised at poor reviews especially the pedantry over the details, boredom over the story not being a properly realised depiction of the novel. I can't help feeling that this is erroneous as I doubt that many people now would even know who the author George Simenon even was, let alone had read or could relate the episodes depiction with the novel. When this TV version was originally broadcast his name was not exactly a household name to anyone watching the show certainly not in Britain, and I have no idea how many people had actually read one of his books.

I think today's television viewers are weaned on the current proffering some based on novels whose authors I doubt have been well read, and most TV detective shows nowadays are stretched over an average two hours. So my prognosis is that current viewers simply expect more of the same, when it comes to watching television programmes especially those serialised by the yank sausage machines.

My Friend the Inspector

[Prismark10 · 3/10 · 26 February 2022]

Set in the Mediterranean island of Porquerolles. An old man boasts of his friendship with Maigret.

Maigret arrives in the island to investigate his murder. The man was once a pimp.

The island is full of eccentric characters which includes a middle aged prostitute who has lost a figure, a painter. A wealthy lady with a young lover.

Maigret needs to find out why the old man was murdered and who did it.

This was another dull adaptation. I was bored from early on in the episode. The reason being that it was difficult to bring the thrust of the novel to the screen at the time.

Instead it is too talky and inert. I sensed that an art forgery will have something to do with it.