Minuit... Quai de Bercy (1953)
Directed by Christian Stengel

Film Review

Christian Stengel was a French filmmaker, screenwriter and producer whose name derives from his father's Danish family.  Having started out in 1937 as an assistant to directors such as Pierre Chenal (L'Homme de nulle part) and Christian-Jaque (Les Pirates du rail), Stengel became a fully fledged filmmaker in his own right with Je chante (1938), an easy vehicle for the iconic singer Charles Trenet.  He ended his career in 1957 with Vacances explosives, which starred Léonie Bathiat, alias Arletty. The most popular success in Stengel's generally lacklustre career was La Famille Duraton (1939), which starred Noël-Noël and was inspired by a serial on Radio Luxembourg, at a time when radio was the main form of mass entertainment. 

Towards the end of his career. Christian Stengel adapted a novel by Pierre Lamblin (La Concierge n'est plus dans l'escalier) as the crime drama Minuit... Quai de Bercy, released on the 26th April 1953.  Stengel's fourth attempt at a thriller after Seul dans la nuit (1945), Rome express (1950) and Pas de pitié pour les femmes (1951), this film benefits from a more satisfying screenplay and a well-constructed, admittedly complicated, plot. From the start, the film's ambiance and strange collection of characters reminds us of the celebrated H.G. Clouzot classic L'Assassin habite au 21, except that here the action takes place at another address, No. 8, avenue Arthur Rimbaud, in a mythical Montmartre.  Whilst Minuit... Quai de Bercy exhibits many of the familiar conventions of French thrillers of its era it stands out from the crowd on account of its ingenious whodunit intrigue and colourful ensemble of characters.

Despite the impressive credits, only two members of the cast make much of an impression.  First and foremost there is the stunning Madeleine Robinson, who, through the subtlety of her art, renders her character (Irène) fascinating.  She is the kind of 'Old Wave' actress who can easily carry a movie on her own shoulders.  Then there is the remarkable American-Austro-Hungarian actor Erich von Stroheim - his sinister clergyman feels like a close relation of the character he played so brilliantly in Les Disparus de Saint-Agil (1938).   When Von Stroheim was asked why he spoke his lines in French slower than his dialogue in English, he replied: "It keeps me on the screen longer".

The procession of actors that lend their support to the impeccable Robinson and chilling Von Stroheim includes the handsome Philippe Lemaire (a romantic lead male of that period), a young Jean Carmet, Francis Blanche (later to become a famous stand-up comedian), Mary Marquet, Rosy Varte and a perfectly cast Louis Seigner.  Last but by no means least there is the almost unknown Belgian theatre and film actor Georges Randax, who is well-chosen for the leading part of Inspector Brenot.

Minuit... Quai de Bercy attracted an audience of 1.7 million in France and was one of those Saturday night movies where the public could come to laugh or cry, shiver or be dazzled, and become wrapped up in a story which takes us back to a world that has long since disappeared - one where a solitary woman could safely have a midnight rendezvous under the arches of the Pont de Bercy...

© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium) 2013


It's a curious fact that, even though Agatha Christie's crime novels were popular the world over, only around half a dozen of her celebrated stories had been adapted for cinema by the early 1950s - the most famous, of course, being René Clair's And Then There Were None (1945).  The classic whodunit that Christie had so successfully developed into a genre in its own right found its way into cinema via imitation plots that were no doubt inspired by (if not shamelessly lifted from) the Queen of Crime's murder mysteries.  The storyline for Minuit quai de Bercy is so Christie-like that it is almost impossible to believe that the creator of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot did not have a significant hand in its inception.  In fact, the story was taken from the novel Le Concierge n'est pas dans l'escalier by Pierre Lamblin, who is best known as the author of a series of novels and comicbooks for children featuring his famous fictional hero Jacques Rogy.

In more capable hands, Minuit quai de Bercy could have been a marvellous thriller, but with journeyman Christian Stengel directing it with his usual detachment and disinterest it fails to be much more than a mildly entertaining pot-boiler.  The plodding narrative redeems itself with some spectacular plot twists in the last two reels, which are only just rendered plausible through a strong central performance from Madeleine Robinson.  Most of the characters in the story are silly, unconvincing archetypes - especially Erich von Stroheim's ridiculous fire and brimstone preacher (how tragic that such a great talent should end his career so ignominiously) - but Robinson's Irène, a redoubtable sleuth with her own mysterious agenda, is a fascinating creation: Miss Marple taking a turn as the iconic femme fatale.

Rising star Philippe Lemaire is so intangible (just a diffuse aura of gratuitous charisma) that he is never a credible suspect.  Meanwhile, the slightly inept casting of Francis Blanche and Jean Carmet (two great comic performers near the start of their illustrious careers) brings more accidental mirth than the film knows what to do with.  Thankfully, there is a sufficient quorum of solid character actors - Georges Randax, Louis Seigner, Jean-Jacques Delbo - to keep things grounded in reality.  From his performance here, Randax appears to have the makings of a great Maigret; only a few years prior to this, he had received plaudits aplenty for his portrayal of Willy Loman in a Belgian stage production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

On the premise (familiar to any true Agatha Christie fan) that the least likely suspect will invariably turn out to be the murderer, it's not too great a surprise when the identity of the killer is finally revealed.  To do him justice, Stengel takes the sting out of this lapse into predictability by accompanying it with an abrupt change of style, which sees the film take an unexpected, and rather stylish film noir slant for its final act.  The unexpected transition is ingeniously eased by a mirror shot that reflects the killer when his/her true nature is revealed to us.  The sudden change in perspective that this achieves is as dramatic as it is artful.  Even mediocre film directors have their moments of brilliance, and in the suspense-laden, eerily dreamlike denouement to Minuit quai de Bercy Stengel shows just how a good film murder mystery should be wrapped up - with élan, tension and a fair smattering of Christie-inspired mischief.

Film Synopsis

When Mado, the attractive young concierge of a block of flats in Montmartre, is found stabbed to death one evening there is no shortage of murder suspects.  Just about everyone who lived in the building seems to have had a grudge against her, not least of which the parents of a little girl she was supposed to be minding at the time the unfortunate child was knocked down by a car.  The flirtatious Mado had men falling at her feet, including a grocer who was ready to ruin himself for her favours - could his jealous wife have been the killer?  Then there is the eccentric Professor Kieffer, who promises eternal damnation to those who lead sinful lives - few led more sinful lives than the loose and lustful Mado.  To speed up his investigation, Inspector Brenot enlists the help of Irène Cazenave, the widow of an eminent criminologist who has just moved into the fourth floor of the blighted apartment block.

Irène's researches prove fruitful.  In no time at all, she manages to extort a confession out of Kieffer and then furnishes the police with another likely suspect - a young Latin teacher named Luc Genevois.  It transpires that Luc had been blackmailed by Mado for some time and was in her room shortly before she met her death.  Unable to reveal why he was being blackmailed, Luc makes himself another probable suspect.  Only one person knows the real identity of the killer, however.  Kieffer's son Jo, an aspiring musician, witnessed Mado's murder and knows that the killer must be a woman.  Naturally, Irène is delighted when Jo reveals this fact to her, and to her alone.  Realising that Jo's knowledge may make him the killer's next victim, Irène arranges a secret rendezvous for him and Bercot - at midnight on the Quai de Bercy....