Arsène Lupin Returns

Melvyn Douglas (Ninotchka, 1939) plays Rene Ferrand in this 1938 film, one of the many follow up films to the "first" talkie Arsene Lupin movie from 1932. Warren William is insurance agent Steve Emerson, who accompanies the Grissac family Lorraine (Virginia Bruce) and the Count (John Halliday). Monty Woolley, with his Santa Claus beard, best known for "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is Georges Bouchet; Familiar face Nat Pendleton (always played the henchman or tough guy) is Joe Doyle, Ferrand's sidekick, and Vladimir Sokoloff is Ivan Pavloff, the mysterious prowler. When a thief tries to steal a valuable necklace, everyone is a suspect. Then things get complicated. Fun scene near the end where the necklace turns up, and it goes from one pocket to another in slight of hand -- then more shooting, more accusations, and a clever way to catch the thief. We aren't really given any early clues in "Murder She Wrote" style - in this one, we can only watch as it all takes place, and try to guess which are the red herrings. Good story, but much more buttoned down and proper than the 1932 Lupin story, starring the Barrymore brothers. TCM showing the collection in November 2007.

Warren William is an FBI agent who is tasked with protecting a precious gem when the elusive Arsene Lupin returns, this time played by Melvyn Douglas.

Nominally a sequel to the 1932 movie starring the Barrymore brothers, this movie would probably work better as a standalone entry. There is a jarring change in tone and style between the two that watching them back-to-back like I did probably hurt my enjoyment of the second movie, if only slightly. Gone is the pre-Code raciness, replaced with a more standard late 30s chasteness, and the distinctly European setting of the first is now very Americanized, even when set in Europe.

However, once I was able to get past the differences I started to appreciate the sequel on its own merit. The movie managed to preserve a sense of mystery despite knowing the identity of the master thief the entire time. The only real complaint I had was that Douglas and William should have swapped roles. There is nothing about Melvyn Douglas that will make you believe he is ever a master French thief, whereas Warren William at least has an air of international sophistication.

"Arsene Lupin Returns" is a 1938 film starring Melvyn Douglas, Virginia Bruce, Warren William, Monty Woolley, and John Halliday.

Rene Farrand (Douglas) is engaged to a wealthy, beautiful woman, Lorraine de Grissac (Bruce). When a fabulous emerald necklace is stolen from Lorraine's uncle, everyone is a suspect. A private eye who once worked for the FBI, Steve Emerson (William) is brought in to investigate. The name of the famous jewel thief, Arsene Lupin, is tossed around, though he is dead. However, Emerson has never believed that, and there are clues pointing to his return from the grave.

Emerson is very suspicious of Farrand, and suspects that he might be the dead Lupin. In one scene, the necklace keeps turning up, first in one person's pocket, and then another's.

One bone to pick. One review here complained that NO ONE in this movie had a French accent, even though this story takes place in France. In France, the people speak French. They don't speak English with a French accent. So no accent is needed since one assumes they're speaking French. Following the line of thought of the review, if these people needed accents, so would anyone performing a Chekhov play need Russian accents, and you'd need Swedish accents for Strindberg. Incorrect.

This is a good movie with nice performances all around; the series never caught on, in part due to the fact that Arsene was played by different actors all the time.

Pleasant.

It's a good thing that Arsene Lupin is dead, because there are enough attempts to steal John Halliday's fabulous emerald while he's trying to sell it. Fortunately (for the insurance company) there are only a few days left on his policy against theft. So they send recently resigned super-G-Man Warren William to France, to guard the emerald and to pine for Halliday's niece, Virginia Bruce. She's also being pursued by Melvyn Douglas, who's actually Arsene Lupin.

This would become a running gag in Maurice Leblanc's series of stories about the master criminal. He would fall off a cliff or something at the end of a novel. Then the next would open with him being a decorated hero of the French Foreign Legion, or Prefect of Police in Paris, and no one would ever recognize him, because he is such a master of disguise. George Fitmaurice directs it as a comedy of manners. He was one of those directors who never quite fell off the A list in the early sound era, mostly because of working for Sam Goldwyn. He did have a falling-off of quality with the enforcement of the Production Code, but at MGM he was buoyed by a staff of writers who knew how to work together under producer John Considine. He died in 1940 at the age of 55.

Famed number 1 G-Man Steve Emerson (Warren William) quits to start a private eye firm. He is hired by an insurance company to protect a precious emerald necklace. Before he gets there, someone makes an unsuccessful attempt to steal it. Count de Brissac is the owner and Lorraine is his niece. After the attempt, the insurance company is ending the policy in 8 days. The family takes it back to Paris. They are joined by family friend Rene Farrand (Melvyn Douglas) who becomes Steve's main suspect as the master thief Arsène Lupin.

This is an interesting return. After the Barrymores in the 1932 version, they make a comeback. It has a good back and forth. It's great to have smart people on both sides. This does have drawbacks from the traditional crime mystery. It doesn't have much mystery. This is carried by a few good actors.