Le Monocle noir (1961) - film review

The Marquis de Villemaur brings together a strange collection of individuals at his country château.  All are rightwing extremists who are expecting to be introduced to a survivor of the Third Reich.  Unbeknown to the Marquis, one of the attendees, Commander Dromard, is a member of the French security services.  When it is revealed that one of the guests at the château is a Soviet agent, the Marquis instructs his henchmen to kill him.  The manhunt is witnessed by the secretary Monique, who is killed in her turn.   Dromard implicates the librarian Mérignac in this latter murder, before making his move to expose the Marquis and his fascist allies...

Although he was far from enthusiastic about having to adapt Rémy’s thriller novel, director Georges Lautner does a reasonable job and delivers the first of his celebrated thriller parodies.  As the film was originally scripted as a straight thriller, the humour is stretched pretty thinly, so you should not expect too many laughs.  Lautner would have far more success with his subsequent comedy-thrillers, including the direct sequel to this film L’Oeil du monocle (1962) and the classic Les Tontons flingueurs (1963).  Lautner’s direction on Le Monocle noir lacks the inspired touch, although there are a few surprising flourishes towards the end.  The film's excellent cast includes Pierre Blanchar in his final screen appearance (as the eccentric Marquis de Villemaur), although the star of the film is Paul Meurisse, in the first of three outings as the supremely elegant secret agent Dromard.  Bernard Blier makes a few humorous incursions, and it is worth noting that his son Bertrand began his film career here, as Lautner’s assistant director.

© James Travers 2011

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