Les inconnus dans la maison

French Cinema under the German occupation has proved an endless source of fascination for film historians, critics and cinéphiles for reasons that are both artistic and political. Two films in particular made under the auspices of the German-controlled Continental-Film were banned for their supposed pro-Pétainist slant, both of which involved Henri-Georges Clouzot, as the director of 'Le Corbeau' and as adaptor of Georges Simenon's 'Les Inconnues dans la Maison' the previous year which was the second film for Continental directed by Henri Decoin. Neither Decoin nor the film's narrator Pierre Fresnay who starred in 'Le Corbeau' were ever able to shake off the stigma of collaboration. The film's reputation was not exactly helped by its being shown with an anti-Semitic short entitled 'Les Corruptueurs' and its murderer being an 'outsider' named Ephraim, subsequently re-dubbed as Amédée. It also raised questions regarding Simenon's racial stance.

For this viewer at any rate Decoin's film is a little short of his best but marks an early attempt to bring Simenon's bleak vision to the screen and the opening scene of a grey, rain-soaked Northern town could not fail to resonate with the understandable gloom felt by the French. It remains however a more than respectable entry in the Simenon filmic canon, due to Clouzot's excellent screenplay and the magnificent performance as Maitre Lausart by Raimu who invests the somewhat pathetic character with a dignity and humanity that ranks alongside his unforgettable Aimable, Chabert and of course, César. He is very much low-key throughout but the sight of him at full throttle in the climactic courtroom scene is a wonder to behold. His impassioned plea for misguided youth as a product of complacent and disinterested bourgeois parenting looks forward to Cayatte's 'Avant le Déluge'.

There have been two remakes, directed by Pierre Louve and Georges Lautner but both James Mason and Jean-Paul Belmondo were to find Raimu the toughest act to follow.

The precedent movie "le Bienfaiteur" was a timid attempt at a society put down ."Les Inconnus dans la Maison" has two major assets:Raimu,one of the most prodigious actors the French cinema has ever had and Henri-George Clouzot ,the future director of such gems as "diabolique" "le Corbeau" or "le Salaire de la Peur "(wages of fear).But it does not explain the success of this work.The whole town,the old house are wrapped in a strange poetry "someone is walking in the attic upstairs the heroine says -No,that must be this old creaking furniture".The first pictures display the saddest town in the world where the rain keeps falling down.

Raimu's performance is once more stunning:during one hour ,his part is completely subdued,because he plays a human wreck,who is on the booze all day long.A former lawyer,he called it quits when his wife left him;and now,he lives with his daughter whom he does not seem to love very much.Then he discovers a dead body in his house :the girl and her pack of youngsters are involved .But he acts as like he doesn't care.He agrees to defend the suspect,his daughter's boyfriend.

Raimu really plays Lazarus:after attending the first part of the trial in a complete indifference,uttering one word or two ,he rises from the dead and puts the teenagers'parents in the dock.Raimu's performance is really sublime and a lot of actors who intend to play a lawyer should have a look at "les inconnus dans la maison".

With this film,Decoin became a great film noir director -he will outdo himself in "non coupable" -In spite of a happy end ,the audience leaves the movie with a bitter taste in the mouth:the whole town is rotten,fathers and mothers have failed ,a subject which André Cayatte will resume in "avant le déluge" (1953).

In 1992,George Lautner redid "les inconnus dans la maison" with Jean-Paul Belmondo as the lead.But a remake is a remake ,and taking on a Raimu's part is pure suicide:besides,time had taken its toll and the screenplay which was original in 1942 became mundane fifty years later:the movie looked like some seventies qualité française movie,at a time when drug was the subject à la mode.

Another remake was made by Pierre Rouve ("Stranger in the house" )between Decoin's and Lautner's versions ,with James Mason as the lead in 1967.

First let me say the Kino Lorber blu ray edition is a beautiful job; the black and white tones come through wonderfully well. A seventy year old film looks almost new.

Some people may dislike the idea of a great star moving out of his comfort zone--movies like Carnet de bal, the Marius trilogy, or the Guitry films--but for me it is wonderful to see Raimu playing an almost terminally cynical and used up man in this one. Loursat seems only one disappointment away from death, and the power of his performance is only increased when we see the supporting cast going about their routines in a boring provincial town. (I wondered why Nicole stayed in that mouldering house--it certainly wasn't for love of her father.) Some famous French movie people--Gabin, Renoir, Clair--left for Hollywood when the war broke out, but the ones who remained made some wonderful pictures, like this one.

Twenty years ago, Raimu's wife ran off with another man, leaving him and their daughter, Juliette Faber -- at least it's assumed she is his daughter. Raimu immediately went to pieces, ceased to practice law, and has spent the last two decades getting drunk. One evening, there is a noise upstairs. Raimu and Mlle Faber open a room and discover a corpse there. He calls his cousin's husband, the state prosecutor, makes no objection to Mlle Faber being interrogated and retires to his room with his bottles. The next morning, he makes a brief statement in which he refers to Mlle Faber as his putative daughter, and begins to wander the streets, finding out what he can about her associates. When André Reybaz, who is in love with Mlle Faber, and she with him, is settled on to stand trial for murder, he selects Raimu as his lawyer.

Under Henri Decoin's direction (with a script by Henri-Georges Clouzot from a Simenon novel), Raimu shows not an iota of his usual charm. He is an emotional wreck, cold, and seemingly interested only in getting drunk. During the first day of the trial he sits like a sodden lump, hungover and not bothering to cross-examine the witnesses. After Mlle Faber says she hates him, will he rouse himself?

Given this is a Clouzot script, you can expect a lot of nastiness, and it's present, but also the reasons for the disdainful attitude of the movie. Decoin directs efficiently, befitting his status as a skilled commercial director, but with Raimu leading the cast, no one else really stands out. Still, he makes it more than worth your time.

Occasionally witty thriller (particularly during the off-screen narration moments) grinds to a halt during the (over)extended courtroom section in the second half, though Clouzot, in one of his earliest scripts, manages to inject some humor and life into them. Henri Decoin's direction is competent but - with a few exceptions, like the opening sequence - lacking in imagination; the film is notable, however, for giving prominent roles to a young cast - quite uncommon for the time. **1/2 out of 4.