George Simenon’s famous unflappable Chief Inspector gets four superior 90-minute mystery adaptations in this recent series for Rowan Atkinson, superbly playing it straight. Somber & consistently involving, the first two are particularly well laid out (MAIGRET SETS A TRAP; MAIGRET’S DEAD MAN) while the third (MAIGRET: NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS) goes a bit slack (paradoxically, a longer running time might have tighten things up); while a soupçon of comic style is gingerly added to the mix in the last (MAIGRET IN MONTMARTRE).* Filmed in Budapest (with some Paris establishing shots), the ‘50s French atmosphere comes thru strongly, exactly what was missing in the last English-language Simenon/Maigret series with Michael Gambon. These, as flavorful as those were flavorless, should send you back to early film assumptions by Pierre Renoir & Harry Baur in the ‘30s.* So many Maigrets over the years, so many missing the boat, including a pair of Class A screw-ups from Jean Gabin. More from Atkinson, please.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *It’s possible that as Atkinson got more comfortable in the role, he and the writers felt they could add humor without bringing Mr. Bean to mind.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Baur is Maigret in Julien Duvivier’s superb LA TÊTE D'UN HOMME/’33 and Jean Renoir directed older brother Pierre in the rarely shown LA NUIT DU CARREFOUR/’32 (NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS). See it here: https://rarefilmm.com/2018/06/la-nuit-du-carrefour-1932/
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