Le Dernier des six (1941) - film review

Having won some money in a bet, six men agree to a strange pact.  They will separate for five years, each attempting to build a fortune from his portion of the winnings.  After five years, they will meet up and share between them the wealthy they have accumulated.  Five years later, two of the men are killed just before the six can meet up to conclude the pact.  Commissaire Wens is assigned to investigate the case, assisted by his star-struck girlfriend Mila Malou.   Wens soon discovers that someone is trying to eliminate each of the six men – but for what purpose?

This early example of the French mystery crime thriller (or ‘polar’) manages to evoke the American film noir genre which inspired it, most notably in the shadowy sets and atmospheric photography.   It also manages to bring in another important genre of American cinema in the 1930s and ‘40s, the lavish song and dance film, with an impressive staging of a French music hall performance.

The film was based on a novel by the Belgian writer, Stanislas-André Steeman, which was adapted by Henri-Georges Clouzot.  The latter would direct his first film the following year, L’Assassin habite au 21, an adaptation of another novel by the same writer, with Pierre Fresnay again playing the part of the cool (but patient) Commissioner Wens.

Whilst this is an entertaining film, with an ingenious plot and a curious blend of comedy and whodunnit, it lacks the menace and suspense of Clozout’s own films.   Nonetheless, the acting is impressive, with Fresnay and the bubbling Suzy Delair particularly pleasing to watch.

© James Travers 2001


Though he worked at being Head of Scripts for Continental, Henri-Georges Clouzot still found time to write scripts of his own, this adaptation of a novel by Stanislas-André Steeman being a case in point.  Influenced by Hollywood’s Thin Man franchise, Clouzot attempted to present his then girlfriend Suzy Delair and Pierre Fresnay as something of a Gallic Nick and Nora Charles, even though neither remotely resembled William Powell or Myrna Loy, and after one follow-up (L’Assassin habite au 21) the idea was quietly shelved.  Where Clouzot does come close to the Thin Man series is the blend of mystery and sophisticated comedy, even throwing in a touch of the French Music Hall that would play such a large part in his third film as a director, Quai des Orfevres, again top-billing Delair. This is a highly entertaining film that perfectly fits Continental’s brief of providing quality escapist fare for a nation under occupation.

© Leon Nock (London, England) 2010 

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