French detective, Henri Cassin(Steven Geray) finally gets a vacation after eleven years, heads out into the countryside for some much deserved rest and relaxation. His reputation known outside of Paris, even in a small village it seems Cassin can not escape murder and investigation.
This little movie was a nice surprise because I'm not familiar with the director, Joseph H Lewis, but his camera is quite arresting and fluid. The ensemble cast is spirited, with a delightful lead performance from Geray as the chipper, celebrated detective, a bachelor with eyes for Nanette(Micheline Cheirel) , whose parents run the inn for which he's staying in the village. Nanette is engaged, though, to a handsome, young farmer, Leon(Paul Marion), while dreaming of a life in Paris, away from the mundane life of the country. Monsieur Cassin is in love for the first time, life as a detective has aged him and so this moment is quite rewarding for someone so associated with crime and murder, during an entire career.
I particularly love how Geray gazes lovingly at Micheline Cheirel when she appears, his face emanates. But, this feeling of sudden joy is only temporary as Nanette's body is found in a nearby river, having run after Leon who didn't respond well to the news that, while he was gone, she had agreed to marry Cassin. When Leon is found in his barn strangled like Nanette(bottle of acid in his hand to supposedly assume he had took his own life after strangling Nanette), Monsieur Cassin's sleuthing turns up a double homicide, a footprint implicating someone. A note is presented to Cassin as a word of warning from the murderer that another would die. No motive befuddles the detective and when the next target turns up being Nanette's mother, he becomes consumed with solving this puzzling case. Even Cassin's credibility is in question as he tirelessly(mind, body and soul) pursues the killer.
What positively stuns me is what Cassin turns up, and I wouldn't dare give this development up. Not in a million years. The evidence points to one man, only one could match the description, the footprint, the handwriting of the death notes..the revelation throws this genre, the murder mystery, for a loop, with schizophrenia/split personality disorder even tossed in the mix for extra oomph. Definitely recommended to fans of Hitchcockian kind of fare. I dig Lewis' style, he has an affinity for arranging big open shots(his shot of the bridge, an object of symbolic importance throughout as it is where a lot of the drama transpires, including the discovery of Nanette's body, especially striking), and tightly confined close-ups(it is said that Lewis had to shoot so much up close due to budgetary and time constraints). Consider me a Joseph H Lewis fan..why is it always these guys who are used by studios to churn out little movies to accompany supposedly great ones that wind up standing the test of time?
This little movie was a nice surprise because I'm not familiar with the director, Joseph H Lewis, but his camera is quite arresting and fluid. The ensemble cast is spirited, with a delightful lead performance from Geray as the chipper, celebrated detective, a bachelor with eyes for Nanette(Micheline Cheirel) , whose parents run the inn for which he's staying in the village. Nanette is engaged, though, to a handsome, young farmer, Leon(Paul Marion), while dreaming of a life in Paris, away from the mundane life of the country. Monsieur Cassin is in love for the first time, life as a detective has aged him and so this moment is quite rewarding for someone so associated with crime and murder, during an entire career.
I particularly love how Geray gazes lovingly at Micheline Cheirel when she appears, his face emanates. But, this feeling of sudden joy is only temporary as Nanette's body is found in a nearby river, having run after Leon who didn't respond well to the news that, while he was gone, she had agreed to marry Cassin. When Leon is found in his barn strangled like Nanette(bottle of acid in his hand to supposedly assume he had took his own life after strangling Nanette), Monsieur Cassin's sleuthing turns up a double homicide, a footprint implicating someone. A note is presented to Cassin as a word of warning from the murderer that another would die. No motive befuddles the detective and when the next target turns up being Nanette's mother, he becomes consumed with solving this puzzling case. Even Cassin's credibility is in question as he tirelessly(mind, body and soul) pursues the killer.
What positively stuns me is what Cassin turns up, and I wouldn't dare give this development up. Not in a million years. The evidence points to one man, only one could match the description, the footprint, the handwriting of the death notes..the revelation throws this genre, the murder mystery, for a loop, with schizophrenia/split personality disorder even tossed in the mix for extra oomph. Definitely recommended to fans of Hitchcockian kind of fare. I dig Lewis' style, he has an affinity for arranging big open shots(his shot of the bridge, an object of symbolic importance throughout as it is where a lot of the drama transpires, including the discovery of Nanette's body, especially striking), and tightly confined close-ups(it is said that Lewis had to shoot so much up close due to budgetary and time constraints). Consider me a Joseph H Lewis fan..why is it always these guys who are used by studios to churn out little movies to accompany supposedly great ones that wind up standing the test of time?