Quai des Orfèvres aka Jenny Lamour (1947) French Ensemble Noir - Christmas Noir

Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot 

Clouzot directed (L’assassin habite au 21 (1942), Le corbeau (1941), Le salaire de la peur (1952),  Les diaboliques (1955) La vérité (1960)). 

Written by Henri-Georges Clouzot and Jean Ferry, based on the novel Légitime défense by Stanislas-André Steeman, with additional dialogue by Henri-Georges Clouzot and Jean Ferry.

Stanislas André Steeman was the author of numerous detective novels, twenty plus of which were a series that have as their hero Commissioner Wencelas Vorobeitchik aka Wens. I've never read any.

The book was however not available to Clouzot in any of the Paris bookstores so Clouzot wrote to Steeman who was living in Brussels for a copy. While awaiting the copy Clouzot wrote "Joyeux Noël" the original working title with Jean Ferry from their memories of the story. So for anyone with access to the novel this would explain the deviations if any, are noticeable.   

The filming of "Joyeux Noël", aka Quai des Orfèvres, began on February 3, 1947.  

Cinematography by Armand Thirard (La main du diable aka Carnival of Sinners, Hotel Du Nord, Wages of Fear, Les Diaboliques). Music by Francis Lopez. 

Here is a French Noir that's almost in Cabaretera territory. Taking place amongst music hall / theatrical folk, we naturally spiral into the twilight world of theater and make believe with all its assorted showpeople, agents, pinup photographers, publicists, composers, musicians, and patrons. There's an abundance of musical interludes germain to the tale, musical numbers, rehearsal sequences, and bits and pieces of other showbiz acts. There's also a dash of screwball comedy in some of Louis Jouvet's exchanges with his various suspects. 

The Cast

Our Femme Fatale catalyst for all the ensuing mayhem is Suzy Delair ( The Murderer Lives at Number 21, ) here playing Marguerite Chauffournier, whose stage name is Jenny Lamour. Jenny is a very flirtatious woman, with a lot of ambition, who makes it obvious to all that she will do anything to get to to top. Delair in some of her facial expressions reminds me a bit of Betty Boop (below).

Suzy Delair as Jenny Lamour

Bernard Blier (is sort of an Elisha Cook Jr. of French Noir, he pops up a lot, even into the 70s). Blier is Maurice Martineau, Jenny's very possessive, very devoted, but also very jealous husband. 

Bernard Blier as Maurice Martineau

Simone Renant is Dora Monnier a childhood friend and confidant of Maurice. Dora is a professional "pin up" photographer who is also in love with Jenny. How Noir is this? The French films didn't get condemned NOIR for nothin'. 

Simone Renant is Dora Monnier 

Louis Jouvet is Inspector Antoine, an ex Foreign Legion soldier who served in Africa, now a Quai des Orfèvres homicide inspector of the Paris Police. He is investigating the crime, and doesn't show up until a third of the way through the film. His wife is deceased but his son. a mixed race child of 15 lives with him.

 

Louis Jouvet is Inspector Antoine

Charles Dullin is the sleazy,, rich industrialist, investor, film producer, hunchback, Brignon, who has a kink for photographs of young naked women. Women who he escorts to Dora's studio, for posing sessions. 

Charles Dullin is Brignon

With Pierre Larquey as Emile Lafour, Jeanne Fusier-Gir as Pâquerette, Claudine Dupuis as Manon, Henri Arius as Léopardi, Jacques Grétillat as Auguste, Joëlle Bernard as Ginette, and Yvonne Ménard as a dancer

The Story

Quai des Orfèvres (the original release title) translates to The Goldsmith's Quai, its the street on Île de la Cité, along the Seine which the main Paris Police headquarters sits. It takes a while to build up to it but the film is essentially a Music Hall Drama combined with a Police Procedural. 

December, Paris. The tale opens with two bundled up women making their way to Leopardi's a musical Publisher and theatrical agent.  Its a walk up, and more than a couple of flights. 

Piano music, emanating from their destination, is becoming louder as they climb  When they reach the office you'll notice that everyone is either bundled up and wearing their coats apparently there's no heat or it cost too much to turn it on.

Here we are introduced to Jenny Lamour formerly Marguerite Chauffournier and Maurice Martineau her accompanist husband. Maurice is rehearsing a musical number with a singer in one area while behind a glass wall Jenny and a composer are working on a new composition of his. 

While Maurice is playing the upright piano he keeps glancing into Leopardi's glass walled office. He's getting jealous because Leopardi, the composer has his hand on Jenny's knee, beating time but also apparently squeezing Jenny's knee cap.

Jenny is a flirt who knows what she wants and knows how to get it, especially by leading men on. She can't help it if,  Maurice, as a kid lived a very "sheltered" life, gets a little jealous. Jenny is smart enough to know how to play the game to get what she wants. Jenny is a complicated woman with many facets one of which is that she really is deeply in love with Maurice.  

Leopardi is enjoying himself, and she is getting the new song to sing. Eventually, Maurice has seen too much, he stops playing the piano and rushes into the glass office confronting the composer who tells him he's flattered. Maurice of course looks like the insecure schmo he is, but Jenny is used to it. It doesn't matter he just rings her bell in that special way. 

The song becomes a big hit when Jenny adds a shake of her ass to the Tra-la-la chorus of the song, and a whole music hall show, built around Jenny big number is planned. Rehearsals are held in the unheated Eden Music Hall, other acts that are part of the show are revealed rehearsing. 

Aerialist act

Dog act

When the show opens it's a hit, and Jenny has many new admirers.

Eden Music Hall

Jenny and Maurice have an apartment over Dora Monnier's Photography Studio specializing in "art nudes."  Dora and Maurice were childhood friends, so they all hang out happily together. Dora like Maurice is also in love with Jenny. Maurice and Dora still confide with each other, which bothers Jenny.

It's showbiz. Dora is shooting a set of Jenny for promotion of the show. At this point we've always have seen them in various combos with others. 

Now they are alone Jenny is seated wearing a bonnet, a corset, and stockings posing. Dora is adjusting her focus, and adjusting Jenny's pose. Jenny complains that she doesn't like Dora manhandling her, Dora responds that she doesn't hear her complain about men doing it, and they talk about sex. 

Dora tells Jenny she still doesn't believe it. She can't picture her and Maurice together. Jenny tells her he lights her fire. It's obviously a case of opposites attract. 

Brignon shows up at the end of the session outside the shop, with a young woman in tow. Dora is ushering Jenny out, explaining that Brignon has a kink for finding women to pose for artistic nudes and he likes to pose them himself, at whatever time it happens to be, seizing the moment so to speak. 

Brignon inherited a fortune from an industrialist family. He tells Dora that he'd rather spend his fortune on photos than buying a Monet or a Picasso.

When Jenny pops out of the studio wearing a fur coat over her corset, to Dora's chagrin, Jenny and Brignon already know each other. 

Brignon is ecstatic to see her and tells her he has a surprise for her at his office tomorrow. Jenny tells him that he'll see her there. Brignon follows after his new subject into the studio. Jenny heads out to the back stairway up to her apartment. 

Dora pops out of the door and tells her to be careful around Brignon. Jenny assures her that she's handled his type before and she, is gonna take him for a ride, and maybe get into a film while doing it.

I'll take him for a ride

When Jenny arrives at their apartment she calls for Maurice. He walks down the hall into the living room. When he gets in sight of her, Jenny flips open her furs like a stripper and reveals the bustier corset and stockings, apparently that does the trick, so as Jenny and Maurice close their gap in closeups we cut to a pot on the stove boiling over. A little French subtext. Jenny knows what turns Maurice on.

When Jenny makes her plans to visit Brignon the next day for a luncheon date Maurice finds out about it and rushes off to the Laperouse restaurant to confront Brignon. 

There, he pushes his way into Brignon's private room closes the door, and has words with him. The door opens, and as Maurice is about to leave he tells Brignon in front of the waiters and manager that if he ever finds him bothering his wife again he'll kill him. 

Later in their apartment arguing with Jenny about it he tells her he'll kill Brignon if he doesn't stay away from her. Jenny laughs and tells him he's too hot headed he'll just get caught and get the guillotine. 

Cut to Leopardi's. During an early evening rehearsal session. Maurice is playing for Ginette, a torch singer who drones her number with a tar bar hanging from her lip (she's got a classic noir "tragically hip," and "is that all there is" aura). 

The phone rings. Leopardi gets a phone call from Jenny telling him to relate a message to Maurice, tell him, that her mother is sick, so she is going to visit, and she has left a dinner for him at the house.. 

Leopardi

Joëlle Bernard as Ginette

When Maurice gets home he begins to rummage around the kitchen and finds a scrap of a playbill with the address of Brignon's villa. Well that of course triggers Maurice into another jealous tirade. He digs out his gun and is determined to kill Brignon. 

However Jenny's words come back to haunt him. He looks at his reflection in a window and he starts to germinate a plan for an alibi. This is what he comes up with.

He'll go to the Folies music hall, and get a standing room ticket. He'll check his hat and coat, schmooze the counter girl for a while and then make his way to the stage door where he parked his '33 Rosengart Supertraction LR 500 Cabriolet, he'll hop in and drive it to Brignon's villa.

It starts to go Noirsville when Maurice gets to the villa. He leaves the Rosengart running on the street, walks through the yard and up to the door. The door is open. He goes in making his way to the low balcony along the great room, and from there spots Brignon's body sprawled before the fireplace. He goes down the short stair and sees that Brignon already has a bullet in his head. Somebody beat him to it. 

Holy shit! Everybody heard him threaten Brignon, he's fucked. So Maurice makes his way quickly back through the villa and to the street only to see a guy hop in his Rosengart and drive it away. 

Maurice, in order to make his alibi work, must get back to the music hall before the show ends. He desperately runs back towards the hall tries to flag down taxi's and eventually has to take the metro. He just makes it as they are just closing up, telling the hat check girl he was up in the balcony.

Meanwhile, we cut to a teary Jenny confessing to Dora that she couldn't believe old Brignon would force himself on her, and that she hit him over the head with a champagne bottle to get him to stop and killed him. 

When Dora asks her if anybody knew she was going to Brignon's, Jenny tells her no, but then she remembers that she left her furs there. She wants to go back, but Dora tells her no, she'll go to get it. 

When Dora is at the villa, she picks up Jenny's furs and then wipes off the glasses and the champagne bottle. Right before she leaves she gives Brignon, cooling to room temperature, a kick in the nuts.

A kick in the nuts for Brignon

Soon after Dora gets back to her shop, Maurice also arrives at the apartment house and see's Dora's light still on. He knocks and she lets him in, he confesses that he went to kill Brignon, but somebody beat him to it. Dora doesn't say anything about Jenny exploits. 

The when the servants find Brignon's body Inspector Antoine from Quai des Orfèvres is assigned to the case. Of course, because of his threats to Brignon, Maurice is the prime suspect number one, but a curious blonde strand of hair is found during the crime scene investigation. Here, we are at roughly the first third point of the film.

Noirsville

I'm a funny kind of woman

  

Clouzot weaves an entertaining and intriguing tale. Louis Jouvet is great, his spin on a police inspector will give you some Columbo vibes. There's even a chuckle inducing sequence where, Antoine. a pipe smoker always lights his pipe with a piece of scrap paper. This habit was displayed when we were first introduced to the character at his home. Its late nigh and he's working on a trigonometry problem for his son, Frustrated with his own lack of understanding he crumples up the sheet of paper and just before he throws it into the small stove, lights his pipe with it. 

When Antoine is questioning Maurice and Jenny in their apartment, Maurice spots the scrap of playbill upon which Jenny wrote down Brignon's address. Maurice grabs it while Antoine has his head turned speaking to Jenny, when he swivels back to Maurice, he spots the scrap of paper folded in Maurice's hands. Antoine plucks the paper from Maurice's grasp. 

He puts a match to it and it ignites. This he brings up to his pipe. You see Maurice relax. Jenny and Maurice making small talk gets Antione to figuring out what an investigation costs. But then Antoine smothers the flames out, and un folds the scrap on his knee. Takes out a pencil and starts writing down figures. Now Jenny also realizes that Brignon's address is on the other side. Then he lights it again. This sequence will remind you a bit of Hitchcock. 

There's more humorous sparks throughout, at one point Maurice after just seeing Bignon's body and having to run halfway back to the theater, after his car was stolen, is putting his coat on in the lobby, the magician tells him that he doesn't look too good, Maurice answers "it's the heat." Another is when Maurice, after telling Dora about seeing Brignon's body, and that no one will believe he didn't do it, asks her if she believes him and she just answers "You don't look like a murderer, that's for sure."

Suzy Delair is very convincing as a vivacious flirt, Bernard Blier's milquetoast Maurice is perfect, while Charles Dullin is spot on as the creepy lecher Bignon. 10/10 

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