Maigret voit rouge (1963) - film review

A man is shot dead in the centre of Paris and the witness to the murder finds himself the next target in a vendetta between American gangsters.  Inspector Maigret is charged with protecting the witness and resolving the mystery of the killing....

Jean Gabin plays Georges Simenon’s famous detective Maigret for the third and final time in this routine crime drama.  Director Gilles Grangier is far less successful in capturing the distinctive oppressive mood of the Simenon novels than Jean Delannoy, who directed Gabin’s earlier two Maigret outings: Maigret tend un piège (1958) and Maigret et l’affaire Saint-Fiacre (1959).  However, there are a few nocturnal location sequences which manage to evoke classic film noir very effectively, although ultimately it is the lacklustre screenplay and dull characterisation that let the film down.

© James Travers 2008

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