Panique aka Panic (1946) Classic French Noir

Directed by Julien Duvivier (Pépé le Moko (1937) one of the Classic French Poetic Realist Noir. 

Written by Charles Spaak and Julien Duvivier and based on Georges Simenon's novel. Cinematography was by Nicolas Hayer and Music was by Jean Wiener.

The film stars Viviane Romance as Alice, Michel Simon as M. Hire, Max Dalban as Capoulade. Émile Drain as M. Breteuil, Guy Favières as M. Sauvage. Louis Florencie as Inspector Marcelin, Charles Dorat as Inspector Michelet, Lucas Gridoux as M. Fortin, Marcel Pérès as Cermanutti, Lita Recio as Marcelle, Michel Ardan as Fernand, Michèle Auvray as Mme Branchu, Lucien Carol as Inspecteur Benoit, Olivier Darrieux as Étienne, Josiane Dorée as Mouchette, Paul Franck as Docteur Philippon, Magdeleine Gidon as Mme Capoulade, Jenny Leduc as Irma, Louis Lions as Marco, Emma Lyonel as La cliente, Jean-François Martial as M. Joubet, Lucien Paris as M. Branchu, Jean Sylvain as Raphaël, Paul Bernard as Alfred, Robert Balpo as Le client, Suzanne Desprès as La cartomancienne.

Viviane Romance as Alice

Paul Bernard as Alfred

Michel Simon as M. Hire

The Story

One of the local eccentrics of a neighborhood of Nice, France, the strange standoffish melancholic Monsieur Hire, takes snapshots of various strange subjects. His grift is as an astrologist, producing horoscopes. The other locals have taken notice but basically accept it. A live and let live attitude. Some tenants dislike his friendly behavior towards their children. 

A traveling carnival arrives and begins to set up in a vacant lot. When the roustabouts prepare to set up the attractions they discover the body of a local widow hidden in the weed and detritus. A police investigation begins.

The Carnival

The dead woman

The next day Alice arrives by cab. Alice was just let out of the slammer. She did time for not ratting out her small time crook boyfriend Alfred. Monsieur Hire notices Alice and immediately becomes infatuated. He even begins to peep on her from the window of his flop which overlooks Alice's bedroom in the hotel next door.

Alice arrives

Alice finds Alfred

Alfred has an alias and is going by the name of "Frank." Alice and Alfred have to pretend that they are meeting for the first time. Part of the reason she was let out early was under a stipulation that she would assist the police. They want to know who she was protecting. They meet outside the church.

the clandestine meeting

Of course Monsieur Hire notices Alice when she arrived and immediately becomes infatuated. He even begins to peep on her from the window of his flop which overlooks Alice's bedroom in the hotel next door.

Monsieur Hire peeping on Alice

When Monsieur Hire sees Alice meeting with Alfred/Frank he is compelled to warn her. He tells her to ask Frank about the murder. 

Ask Frank about the murder

Alice does asks Alfred about the murder. At first he denies any involvement but soon admits that he was sleeping with her, and killed her for her money. Alice tells Alfred that Monsieur Hire must know something.

Alfred/Frank begins to spread vicious rumors around the neighborhood about Monsieur Hire. Another part of his plan is to plant evidence in Monsieur Hires apartment.  For that he needs Alice to romantically lead on Monsieur Hire. She eventually places the dead woman's handbag behind a radiator. Their plan of course all goes Noirsville.

Noirsville

An entertaining movie with a nice ensemble cast. 7/10

"In the years immediately following World War II, filmmakers were judged according to how their films reflected their implicit judgement of the behavior of the French under German occupation. The tale of "mob misrule" and "scapegoating" is played out in a setting that includes all the prototypical elements that identify it as a microcosm of French society: the cafe bar and terrace, small shops, church, modest hotel, "the selling of veal cutlets and Camembert".[4] Panique has been described as "a strong and memorable screen denunciation of the relations between French people in the confused aftermath of the war" and "a harsh but thoughtfully delineated portrait of a society riven by mistrust and suspicion".[5] Duvivier commented with respect to the film that "we are far from people who love each other". Defenders of French society responded that his years in exile during the war made him unfit to assess the French society that emerged from the war.[5] Later critics have appreciated how the film makes references to the French Revolution as well as to the very recent past with playful puns and allusions rather than forthright statements, allowing the viewer to make the connections. In this analysis, self-censorship and the political context that made a careful examination of the recent past impossible forced Duvivier "to speak in more highly elaborated codes. It is the constraints themselves that produce a film compelling enough to demand an unraveling, and that distinguish Panique from the more journalistic renderings of Occupation stories that were made in later decades." (Wild, Florianne. "L'Histoire ressucitée: Jewishness and Scapegoating in Julien Duvivier's Panique")