christopher-underwood This is a major disappointment and Clouzot fans should be wary. This is no Wages of Fear, Diaboliques or Le Corbeau. I have a feeling that this project was foist upon him after Le Corbeau so upset the French and was his way back. Whatever, this may have a easy going melodramatic charm for some but there is just no edge, no strong and believable action. The characters are hard to believe in and although some allowance should be made for the time and circumstances, I found it hard to stick with this to the end. The music should have been more rousing, the central couple more attractive with some sense of being 'real' and although the police inspector does well there is such a madhouse of characters involved by the end that the film almost turns to farce.

Martin Bradley It's hard to believe that the same Henri-Georges Clouzot who made "Le Corbeau", "Le Salaire de la Peur" and "Les Diaboliques" made this terrific comedy-thriller. It's about the murder of a loathsome businessman and impresario and the three main suspects are one of his potential protégés, (Suzy Delair), her jealous husband, (Bernard Blier), and a female photographer, (Simone Renant). Louis Jouvet is the investigating inspector and his methods are, to say the least, somewhat unorthodox. The setting, superbly captured by Clouzot and his cameraman, Armand Thirard, is the seedy milieu of the Parisian music-halls. It's very funny and beautifully acted and less obvious than its surface suggests. But perhaps the most surprising thing is that the usually morose to the point of morbidity Clouzot could display such a light touch. A real treat.

Claudio Carvalho In the postwar Paris, the accompanist pianist Maurice Martineau (Bernard Blier) is a jealous man from the upper class married with the ambitious singer Marguerite Chauffournier Martineau, most known by her artistic name Jenny Lamour (Suzy Delair), a woman with past from the lower classes. When the lecher but powerful Georges Brignon (Charles Dullin) harasses and invites Jenny for dinner promising a role in a film, Maurice goes to the restaurant and threatens Brignon. A couple of days later, Jenny tells Maurice that she is going to visit her grandmother in another town. However, her husband finds a piece of paper hidden in the kitchen with Brignon's address. Maurice goes to the theater to have an alibi and heads to Brignon's manor during the show with the intention of killing the old man. However, he finds Brignon's house open and the man dead on the floor. When he leaves the crime scene, his car is stolen and Maurice has to walk back to the theater. Meanwhile, Jenny arrives in the house of the lesbian photographer Dora Monier (Simone Renant), who is an old friend of Maurice and has a crush on Jenny, and tells Dora that she has just killed Brignon. But Jenny notes that she had forgotten her fur on the couch in the living room of Brignon's house and Dora takes a cab to retrieve the stole. Inspector Antoine (Louis Jouvet) is assigned to investigate the case and sooner he visits Jenny, Maurice and Dora to check their alibis for that night in the beginning of his investigation. "Quai des Orfèvres" is an amusing story of an efficient detective investigating a murder in a comedy of errors of the three lead suspects. Henri-Georges Clouzot is one of the best French directors ever and "Quais des Orfèvres" is another gem in his filmography. The witty screenplay has many twists and is supported by the magnificent cinematography in black-and-white and awesome performances. Bernard Blier, the father of Bertrand Blier, is perfect in the role of a jealous cuckold without confidence in his wife and self-respect. Suzy Delair performs an ambitious woman that has a past with lovers and wants to climb positions in the show-business, but loves her husband. Simone Renant is great in the role of a lesbian photographer. But who steals the film is Louis Jouvet, in the role of a detective that seems to be naive, but is capable to find the truth that each character intends to hide. My understanding is that Antoine might be gay since he does not like women. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Crime em Paris" ("Crime in Paris")

heliotropetwo The Director loves the actress and it shows. The actress inhabits the character, whom we love at first sight and sound. The character loves her jealous unprepossessing husband and he loves her. His childhood friend secretly loves his wife and the fact that his friend is a beautiful woman makes the love tragic and ironic. His wife is jealous of his childhood friend and thinks her attentions are out of secret love for her husband.Then there is a murder and the investigating police lieutenant, who loves only his bi-racial son, and resents being taken from his company by the above characters, who have had some unpleasant contact with the deceased and are all lying to one degree or another, unravels the mystery with some of the most precise and authentic procedural detail ever captured on film.And then there are the atmospherics of a post-war Paris, where coal is in short supply, music is filled with erotic longing and wistful memory, and innocence has long ago been washed away by the rain.All of this in a milieu of magicians whose tricks don't always work, dogs who walk on their hind feet and express music criticism, hungry news reporters and exhausted cops.And then there are many of the finest actors of their generation who have been through some very bad years directed by, to come full circle, a man who is in love with his lead actress and who, with full justification, was a respected friend of Picasso.I've seen this film often and I love all of them and it.