L'Invité de la onzième heure (1945)
Directed by Maurice Cloche

Film Review

L'Invité de la onzième heure begins with an interesting premise worthy of H.G. Wells but then foolishly squanders it on what ends up being no more than a second rate murder mystery, the kind of unimaginative whodunit that Agatha Christie might knock out in an odd hour or two between breakfast and lunch for one of her drearier short story anthologies.  Jean Tissier's presence in the cast was presumably intended to lighten the mood of the film and make his character a less likely murder suspect, but the actor's untamed histrionics and general all-round silliness pretty well undermine both of these objectives.  For most of his career, Tissier could be relied upon to add charm and lustre to many a second-rate film, but here is merely aggravating as a reporter posing as an amateur sleuth.

Roger Pigaut, Junie Astor, Blanchette Brunoy and Guillaume de Sax, all very capable actors, are equally ill-served by a lacklustre and pretty transparent script, which Maurice Cloche directs without any real flair or the least sign of enthusiasm.  Prior to this Cloche had had a fairly mundane career, turning out routine comedies and melodramas like Ces dames aux chapeaux verts (1937) and Le Petit chose (1938), but after the war he would garner acclaim for his far more impressive films devoted to notable benefactors of mankind.  Most memorable of these is his remarkable 1947 biopic Monsieur Vincent, which received an Oscar.

The real stars of L'Invité de la onzième heure are undoubtedly the atmospherically lit sets, which cannot help calling to mind Dr Frankenstein's iconic laboratory in James Whales' classic horror films for Universal Pictures in the early 1930s.  In just about every other respect, the film is a massive let down, sadly one of Cloche's least worthy offerings.

Film Synopsis

Dr Rémi Lambert is a distinguished inventor who is inordinately proud of his latest creation - a machine that is capable of reading human thoughts.  Realising the revolutionary possibilities of his invention, he invites his fiancée, along with several friends and relations, to his laboratory one day so that they can witness a demonstration.  Among the assembled guests is a journalist named Christophe Berri.  Later that evening, Dr Lambert is found dead, apparently have been murdered by one of his houseguests.  Feeling he is the man best equipped to solve the mystery, Berri takes charge of the murder investigation, not knowing that the scientist has one last trick up his sleeve.  Before the guests depart his diabolical invention will reveal the identity of the killer...