Rent The Murderer Lives at 21 (1942)
3.8 of 5 from 86 ratings
1h 24min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A thief and killer stalks the streets of Paris, leaving a calling card from "Monsieur Durand" at the scene of each crime. But after a cache of these macabre identifications is discovered by a tradesman in the boarding house at 21 avenue Junot, Inspector Wens (Pierre Fresnay) takes lodging at the infamous address in an undercover bid to solve the crime, with unexpected help from his struggling-actress girlfriend Mila Malou (Suzy Delair).
- Actors:
- Pierre Fresnay, Suzy Delair, Jean Tissier, Pierre Larquey, Noël Roquevert, René Génin, Jean Despeaux, Marc Natol, Huguette Vivier, Odette Talazac, Maximilienne, Sylvette Saugé, Louis Florencie, André Gabriello, Raymond Bussières, Antoine Balpêtré, Paul Barge, Léon Belières, René Blancard, Lucien Blondeau
- Directors:
- Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Producers:
- Alfred Greven
- Writers:
- Stanislas-André Steeman, Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Aka:
- L'assassin habite... au 21
- Studio:
- Eureka
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- A Brief History of French Poetic Realism, A Brief History of the Tradition of Quality, All the Twos: 1902-62, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Guest Houses On Film, Top Films, Topping the Music Hall Bill
- Countries:
- France
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 20/05/2013
- Run Time:
- 84 minutes
- Bonus:
- A new and exclusive video interview with French film scholar Ginette Vincendeau about Clouzot and his debut
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Reviews (2) of The Murderer Lives at 21
Rare French 1940s black comedy - The Murderer Lives at 21 review by Mr Aquarium
This film is so rare that it's not even mentioned in my 2017 Radio Times Film Guide. The director [Henri-Georges Clouzot] is, however, famous, having directed the thriller to end all thrillers - "The Wages of Fear" - in the 1950s.
Although it's a crime film with several murders, it's a blackly humorous film [well, 1940s French humour] and well worth watching if you're OK with b&w subtitled French films. There's a twist at the end of the film.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
French Thriller. - The Murderer Lives at 21 review by Steve
Exuberant comedy-thriller from Henri-Georges Clouzot which feels like a prototype for those British murder-mysteries produced at Ealing Studios after WWII, like Green for Danger (1946). And it works as a compelling suspense story as well as a gleeful spoof of an ensemble of French caricatures.
This is irresistibly entertaining and directed with style. A serial killer is tracked to the address of the title, which is a guest house of established residents. So an urbane, droll detective registers as a priest (Pierre Fresnay), inconveniently followed by his dizzy girlfriend (Suzy Delair)…
She wants to drum up publicity for her nightclub act and adds a shot of screwball. There’s an amusing support cast of character actors who play the eccentric, theatrical suspects, like the unemployed magician (Jean Tissier) and the evasive doctor ( Noël Roquevert) with a suspicious past…
There’s may be subtext about the Nazi occupation but this is so frivolous it hardly registers. Clouzot shifts between moods with considerable finesse, but this isn’t realism. It hasn’t the weight of his more famous thrillers. Hard to believe it was made in a time of such despair.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.