THE MURDERER LIVES AT NO.21 (l'ASSASSIN HABITE AU 21)

France, 1947, 83 minutes, Black and White.
Pierre Fresnay, Suzy Delair.
Directed by Henri- Georges Clouzot.

The Murderer Lives at No.21 is a '40s murder mystery set in France. It is the first film of celebrated director Henri-Georges? Clouzot, director of Les Diaboliques and The Wages of Fear.

The film has a tongue-in-cheek approach to its story of a serial killer, the presentation of the victims, the blustering of the bureaucratic police, the suave manner of the detective, the eccentricities of his opera-loving girlfriend, the possible suspects and their unmasking.

The film is brief, in black and white, an example of French film-making during the war years.

1.Entertaining murder mystery? Brevity? Emphasis on style and genre rather than smooth presentation of crime and detection?

2.French film-making during World War Two, black and white photography, editing and pace, stylised sets? The blend of the serious and the comic? The cast and the director?

3.The title, its tone, the information given to the inspector, the suspects and the unmasking?

4.Wens as the detective, his idiosyncratic manner, his relationship with Mila and her own eccentricities? His clashes with the police chief? Investigation, supporting Mila and her desire to investigate? Going into number 21 after receiving the information, his cover? The confrontation, initial detection, identifying the killer - the arrest of Colin, of Lintz, the encounter with the carnival fakir, the confrontation with the three, their story and the truth? His shrewdness in getting the police to arrest them? His victory? An eccentric character?

5.Mila, her ambitions for singing, the audition, wanting to get her name on the front page, trailing the murderer without lights on her car etc? The interaction with the people at number 21? Her lack of confidentiality? Her singing in the final concert?

6.The police chief, the usual portrait of a bumbling bureaucrat? Credit and blame?

7.The presentation of the victims, the man who won the lottery, the pay chief? Miss Coq? The build-up of atmosphere about the serial killer?

8.The people at number 21: the landlady and her running of things, the other guests, suspicions, the deaths, Miss Coq in the bath, stories, suspicions within the house? The vindication of the accused? The final party and celebration?

9.The irony of the solution - the story of schooldays and the idea of their working as a team? Their greed and callousness? The motivation of each, each claiming responsibility? Colin and his seeming ineffectualness? In prison and released? Lintz and his interrogation, his breaking down and confessing? The fakir and his performance on stage? His callousness and the murder? Their arrest?

10.Minor characters in the house - the landlady, Kid Roberts and his being blind, the clues from his hearing? The nurse and her concern?

11.Popular murder mystery styles, '40s French style?