Les Caves du Majestic (1945)
Directed by Richard Pottier

Film Review

Albert Préjean stars as Georges Simenon's famous Parisian detective in this, the third and last of the Maigret films made by Continental-Films during the Nazi Occupation of France.  By now, Préjean is comfortably ensconced in the role, although his portrayal bears scant resemblance to Simenon's creation; if anything, he comes across as a forerunner of the maverick cop of the 1970s, a cross-between Dirty Harry and Lieutenant Columbo, albeit one with much better dress sense.  When Préjean's Maigret isn't punching his chief suspect in the face, he is laying ingenious traps for them, hoping that by firing off the most banal and idiotic questions ('What does this do...?') he can elicit signs of guilt.  He shows a nasty misogynistic streak and he even treats his sidekick Lucas (played by Gabriello as a lumbering, sleep deprived, stuttering fool) as a doormat.  It may not be Maigret as we know it but it's a much livelier interpretation than the comparatively narcoleptic one that Jean Gabin would deliver in his turn as the pipe-smoking 'tec in the following decade.

The character of Maigret was not the only liberty screenwriter Charles Spaak took when adapting Simenon's popular crime novel Les Caves du Majestic.  Several character names were changed and some subtle alterations made to the plot, although the film is broadly faithful to the novel.  It is well known that Spaak had to complete his screenplay in Fresnes prison, after being arrested by the Gestapo for suspected resistance activity.  Deprived of food whilst incarcerated, Spaak amused himself by including as many gastronomic references into his script as he could, which is why much of the action takes place in the kitchens of the titular hotel and why food is mentioned in almost every scene.  It's best not to watch this film on an empty stomach.

Les Caves du Majestic was the last of the thirty films made by Continental, the German-run company that was created in 1940 to give the Nazis some control over the French film industry during the period of occupation.  Although the film was recorded in February 1944 (the only film made by Continental to be shot at the rue du Château studios in Neuilly), it was not until August 1945 that it was released, distributed by the newly formed Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC).  The popularity of its star, Albert Préjean, guaranteed the film's success in France, despite its association with the now discredited Continental (whose logo, significantly, is absent from the credits).

In addition to Préjean, the film boasts a strong cast which includes stars such as Suzy Prim (looking uncannily like Marlene Dietrich) and Denise Grey and such talanted character actors as Jacques Baumer and Fernand Charpin.  Baumer gives a particularly fine performance in  this film, stealing its two most crucial scenes - the famous restaurant scene in which Maigret re-enacts the Judgment of Solomon, to decide which of the two main murder suspects is the worthiest father of a little boy; and the scene in which Donge meets his illegitimate son for the first (and probably only) time.  It is only in these two subtly poignant scenes that director Richard Pottier shows much enthusiasm for the film; the rest of the film is directed pretty blandly, with none of the distinctive film noir stylisation he had employed so effectively on his earlier Simenon adaptation, Picpus (1943).  Les Caves du Majestic is probably the most digestible of Albert Préjean's three Maigret films, but even though it has a polished screenplay and some highly commendable performances, it is hardly an inspired production.  It pales in comparison with the best Maigret film to date, Julien Duvivier's La Tête d'un homme (1933), in which Harry Baur leaves us in no doubt that he is the greatest Maigret of them all.

Film Synopsis

Madame Petersen, the wife of a successful Swedish businessman, is murdered at the Majestic Hotel in Paris and Chief Inspector Maigret is called in to investigate.  Suspicion immediately falls on the dead woman's one-time secret lover, Arthur Donge, who is revealed to be the natural father of her infant son Teddy.  Maigret is unconvinced of Donge's guilt but he then discovers that before she died Madame Petersen was being blackmailed by someone with the initials 'A.D.'  It would seem to be an open and shut case, but things are not always what they seem...