B&W, 1952, 117 mins. 18 secs.
Directed by Henri Verneuil
Starring Michel Simon, Raymond Rouleau, John van Dreelen, André Dalibert, Areltte Merry, Christian Fourcade, Jacqueline Porel, Maurice Teynac, Reinhard Koldehoff,
Indicator (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/B HD), Coin de mire (Blu-ray) (France RB HD)

A reliable name in French thrillers from the postwar period through the 1970s, Henri Verneuil (The Sicilian Clan, Any Number Can Win) got to showcase all of his abilities in that arena with this engaging three-story mystery anthology. Not surprisingly, the standout story overshadowing everything else here is the last one featuring Michel Simon in his one shot at the legendary character of Inspector Jules Maigret, later portrayed by Jean Gabin in three films starting in 1958. However, there's a lot more going on here including a clever framing device with a narrator introducing the appeal of pulp novels, showing numerous casual readers throughout Paris, and introducing our sleuths. On top of that, all of the stories exist within the same universe with characters drifting between them or calling each other, a nice touch playing on the idea of mystery novels all bumping off each other regardless of the author.

First up here is S.A. Steeman's "Mr. Wen's Alibi" in which detective Wenceslas Vorobeitchik, known as Mr. Wen (Rouleau), taking on a case from the wealthy wife of Hubert Heldinge (Teynac) after numerous suspicious accidents seem like an attempt on her life. Shortly after arriving to talk to the shifty husband, Wen inadvertently proves to be his alibi when the wife turns up dead in the elevator. All the clues point to a mysterious Spanish gigolo, Gonzalez, as the likely killer, but further digging involving a talented nightclub performer named Florence Garner (Merry) proves there's more than meets the eye. Even mystery novices should be able to spot the main twist here right away, but it's a fun, twisty yarn with a nice balance of humor and glitzy intrigue. Then in Peter Cheyney's "I'm Tender-Hearted," American G-man Lemmy Caution (13 Ghosts' van Dreelen) jets to Europe from New York in search of ruthless gangster Rudi Siguella, "a big-time kidnapper, a dynamiter of banks for fun," who's circling a major jewelry collection in Hamburg. From there he works with the local authorities on an elaborate trap while also getting entangled in the criminal's unorthodox love life. Finally in Georges Simenon's "The Evidence of the Altar Boy," a rainy afternoon turns into a nightmare for little Justin (Fourcade) who witnesses an elderly man's dead boy being dragged into a building. The culprit threatens to cut the boy's throat and his mother's if he talks, but when a delirious Justin passes out in church and keeps saying "I saw nothing," the cops get involved. At first the testimony leads them to believe the kid made it up, but Maigret gets involved and works with the boy to find out what really happened-- even when the detective winds up bedridden with the flu.

Despite its caliber, this film was barely shown anywhere outside of France; in keeping with the times, it has much saltier language than most countries (especially the U.S.) and would have been toned down a lot in the subtitles. Oddly enough, the one thing that feels the most startling today is a long scene involving a post-bathing child in the second story, something that was completely innocuous at the time but would never be filmed today. For mystery buffs the middle story will probably be the least of the bunch since it's a fairly straightforward caper, but all of them are fun with a cast clearly having a good time in these homicidal vignettes. Plus it's fun seeing an obscure story involving Lemmy Caution, a character played much more famously by Eddie Constantine in a string of films including Alphaville.

The first English-subtitled option for this film arrived when StudioCanal released it for streaming on Netflix in several European countries, with a French Blu-ray (minus subtitles) appearing in 2021 from Coin de mire. The 2026 Blu-ray from Indicator (for both the U.S. and U.K. markets) comes from the same excellent restoration, with a crisp LPCM 1.0 mono track (mostly French, but with a fair amount of English in the second story) with optional English subtitles. (No SDH subs for the full film though.) The main extra here is Michel Simon (14m51s), a 1964 documentary short by Ole Roos profiling the esteemed actor with a discussion of his approach to his career, the elements he bothered from people around him, his life in Paris starting in 1912 in a state of poverty, his time on the stage, and life with his scene-stealing cat. A 30-image gallery of stills and promotional art is also included, plus a 36-page booklet featuring a new essay by Eric Smoodin, archival profiles of all three source writers, an archival review of Michel Simon, and film credits.

Reviewed on July 18, 2026