Derrière la façade (1939) - film review

Two rival police inspectors, Boucheron and Baumer, investigate the murder of the owner of a well-to-do apartment block.  Madame Mathieu has been found stabbed to death in the lift, and there is no shortage of suspects.  The murder weapon is a knife which belongs to a resident knife thrower, Picking, and which is found in the room of a kleptomaniac, Corbeau.  No sooner have these two suspects been arrested than a young bank clerk, André, confesses – not to the murder but to defrauding his employer.  Could the murderer be the sinister Eric, who is revealing his nasty character during a game of cards?  Could it be the unscrupulous Alfredo, a classy crook who abuses women?  Or could it be the son of the respectable Président Bernier, eager to repay his father for having a mistress?  As they delve deeper into the private lives of the dead woman’s tenants, Boucheron and Baumer make more than a few surprising discoveries.  But will they solve the crime..?

An extraordinary array of stars are assembled for this quirky murder mystery, which was directed by the talented and popular filmmakers Georges Lacombe and Yves Mirande.  The film is less a conventional whodunit and more a witty and incisive examination of the moral deficiencies of the middle classes.  Adultery, prostitution, fraud, theft, hypocrisy, abuse of women by men, manipulation of men by women – almost every conceivable flaw of the Bourgeois milieu is picked up and beautifully caricaturised in this piece of high class satire.

As the bungling police inspectors Boucheron and Baumer pursue their investigation, we are treated to a series of well-crafted vignettes which alternate between tragic poignancy, high drama and outright farce, each with some sparkling performances.  Michel Simon and André Lefaur make a hilarious duo as the knife thrower and kleptomaniac; Erich von Stroheim is genuinely chilling as he spars with his card playing rival; and there are some equally pleasing contributions from the magnificent Jules Berry, Marguerite Moreno and Gabrielle Dorziat.  Ultimately, the film belongs to Lucien Baroux and Jacques Baumer, whose portrayal of a pair of rival policemen (a bit like Sam Spade competing with Commissaire Maigret) makes a refreshing change from the conventional all-to-perfect crime-investigating hero.

All in all, Derrière la façade is a superlative example of 1930s French cinema – a film that uses a popular genre (the comedy thriller) as a vehicle for a “no holds barred” assault on the Bourgeoisie.  Well written, well constructed, and with some exquisite moments of poignancy and comedy, it is both an intelligent critique of its time and hugely entertaining piece of escapist fun.

© James Travers 2004

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