Word: maigret
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...seems typical of French crime films, but as soon as Maigret appears, the weird story begins to emerge. As the manhunt runs its two-hour course, Maigret captures two murderers, an adultress, her gigolo, and the Marais Killer's possessive mother. Also in this line-up are an unfortunate butcher and a petty criminal who consents to act as a murder suspect...
...killer, it turns out, is an impotent psychopath who murders women because he can't bring himself to kill his unfaithful wife. But his wife loves him, as does his mother, and the two women compete fiercely to protect him, making it extremely complicated for Maigret...
...Maigret, that old stalwart Jean Gabin gives a magnificent performance. The Inspector is not the usual suave type, he doesn't have beautiful girls falling all over him. Not only is Maigret happily married, but he is aging, paunchy, and tired. With all these drawbacks, he still managers to make Peter Gunn look like an inept amateur...
Gabin interprets Maigret as a shrewd man who can trap one murderer by being gentle and fatherly and capturing the other by being violent and disgusted. He understands what motivates a criminal and plays on their psyches like a virtuoso. Sloppy, unimpressive, Maigret is nonetheless the cleverest of sleuths, and Gabin plays him to perfection...
Actually, Inspector Maigret is a gem of understatement. Always frank, in the best French tradition, the movie is nonetheless in perfect taste. As a result, it is absorbing and believable. Besides, there is no better combination than Jean Gabin and good Gallic murder-mystery...