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This was Clouzot's directing debut, having graduated from being a screenwriter feeling that his script for Le dernier des six was implemented by Georges Lacombe to the letter, and yet not being satisfied with the result. It's a murder mystery based on a novel by the same author behind Le dernier des six, Clouzot adds comic touches which act as kindling to set the fire alight.

Stylistically they're very different, and yet it feels like Paul Verhoeven and Henri-Georges Clouzot were cut from the same philosophical cloth. It seems under-remarked upon that L'assassin habite a 21 is a pretty anti-clerical movie, there's blasphemous jokes about the celibacy of Catholic priests and the Holy Trinity. You also get the feeling, from this movie made under the Occupation, that this is a "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right" kind of movie, where the French characters are shown with acid misanthropy, but also, that the allusions to the Nazis, really trivialise them, in the manner of Lubitsch. The final scene of the movie contains a quite hilarious snub of the Nazis that is brazen but too droll for any Nazi to catch.

Clouzot worked for Continental-Films, which was controlled by the Nazis, its chief Alfred Greven reporting directly to Max Winkler the Reichsbeauftragter (Reich Commissioner) for German films. Clouzot attended parties with Greven and his mistresses, with his own mistress Suzy Delair (Mina Milou, the female lead of this movie). I get this feeling like with some of Verhoeven's characters in Black Book, that they were riding the tiger's back, trying to survive and enjoy themselves in a world of mad people. There's a feeling when a character dies that it's a Darwinian incident, that you're an idiot if you flash money around and wander the streets at night when there is a spate of robbery homicides going on in your district.

There's a swagger to the direction of this film, a boastful assuredness that I found really refreshing. There is also a balance to the characteristic misanthropy of Clouzot's film, an offsetting humour. I think Clouzot belongs up there with Nabokov and Verhoeven as supremely competent individuals laughing in the dark. L'assassin habite a 21 was quite the guilty pleasure for me!

What a smart film this is! It took me a while to get around after the proverbial rug was pulled from under my feet towards its climax.

It is a thriller, but not just that. It is a comedy, but never distracting from the overall tone. It is intelligent, but doesn't take a cheat breather at the end to cover up writing inadequacies.

A policeman has to catch a serial killer in two days. He has for company an ambitious woman who is far from qualified to be in situations she intends to be in. He has a clue. And he has a set of strange people amongst whom he feels he has his target.

A fabulous whodunit ensues. Add to this the beautiful language of the French in what is a fairly verbose film, and you have an absolute must- see. Along with Laura, this is one of my favourite suspense thrillers from the 40s and I definitely recommend it.

And just when I thought the title worked like a final revelation, it just ended up being the starter of the second act of Henri-George Clouzot's classic film's debut… which makes sense. Why would you tell right from the start where the villain lives except if the 21 number is a very broad information, like the location of a seedy pension occupied by people who doesn't strike as the most recommendable ones. There are obviously four or five potential murderers and the trick is to know 'who done it'?

And whodunit is the word, as the film opens with a murder that is as violent and merciless as it's cleverly shot. A bum who's just won at the lottery spent the whole time buying drinks and bragging about things he doesn't have the slightest notion about, the bar opening allows us to have a few discussions about the mysterious serial killer who torments Parisian street (maybe a nod to a villainous regime that brandished its flag on the Eiffel Tower). The killer's trademark is to leave mysterious cards with the name 'Monsieur Durand', but totally oblivious to the threats, the imbibed hobo goes his way home Then, in a nice technical twist, a banal traveling shot took more dramatic proportion, the man walked faster as if he tried to escape from the camera, instantly marking the villain's POV.

Clouzot has often been referred as the second Hitchcock and I suspect this has more or less to do with his 'smaller' (in quantity but not quality) body of work. But Clouzot is a legitimate Master of Suspense and the murder scene would have made Hitch very proud, and the two men have more in common than the use of suspense and tricky shots, they had some dark sense of humor. Clouzot's humor would confine to cynicism and a rather pessimistic take on human nature, but aftermath scenes are oddly lighthearted and funny. The last killing being one too many, it threatened the Ministry of Interior's position, so we witness a series of orders' transfer from one hierarchy to another, and the lower the status is, the smaller the delay and the less polite the injunction. It all ends with Detective Wens (Pierre Fresnay) having two days to investigate the murder.

The movie loses its way a little for exposition's sake, so we get to know Wens' noisy girlfriend, a wannabe stage artist named Mila and played by Suzy Delair (who was the voluptuous singer in "Quai des Orfèvres"), she hears from a manager that he only hires people who make the headlines, so for some reason, she decides to look for the mysterious murderer. That doesn't really make sense, nor the fact that the two leads are too opposite to satisfy as a couple. Fresnay plays a sort of French version Sherlock Holmes, (the original play was actually set in London), he's sophisticated and histrionic while Mila is more of a popular street-smart Parisian girl. Thankfully, the film promptly gets to the point where a snitch reveals where the murderer lives.

So Wens enters the pension, disguised as a pastor, and discovers some odds but colorful occupants many of them, like Fresnay and Delair are Clouzot regulars and it's one of the film's delights to see them interact and compete in terms of nastiness. The obligatory Pierre Marquay is Collin, a man who manufactures headless puppets as tributes to the criminal, Noel Roquevert, who played nicer and more gentlemanly persons, is an embittered doctor with a criminal record, and Jean Tissier is Professor Lallah-Poor, a turban-wearing master of illusions, there's also a blind ex-boxer with a beautiful nurse (Huguette Vivier), a wannabe writer (Maximilienne), an overweight manager and a janitor who spends time whistling and imitating animal sounds.

At that point, you expect the rest of the film to go like these one-location Agatha Christie-like mysteries novels, enjoying the delightful exchanges and the great performances from all the protagonists until Wens spots the guilty one. Speaking of this, I thought Fresnay as the ringmaster played his part in a s slightly over-the-top way, even when he's not supposed to act in the film, he would be more restrained and dramatic in Clouzot's next film "Le Corbeau") but this is a minor flaw, easy to overlook. If you love a movie to go beyond your expectations, to give you a little more than what you expect, this is the film. And it all occurs in that great third act.

Not only it provides a satisfying resolution to the plot, but also a very clever one, that should have inspired a Hitchcock movie without even him being accused of plagiarizing. As a matter of fact, the plot is so original that I can't recall a famous movie working on the same basis. And originality is certainly one of Clouzot's strongest suits, as his equally suspenseful and thrilling movies never relies on the same schemes and they always manage to wow the audience, while making an interesting social commentary on a specific business or demography of French society, here it can be argued that the Police isn't shown under the kindest light, which in the context of occupied France, makes sense.

Speaking of the Occupation, I found the concluding shot rather puzzling until I discovered it was one of the greatest finger gestures toward the Nazi occupants, which also proves where Clouzot stood for and it went unnoticed by censors because it was both ingenuous and subtle; and so full of promises of the emerging talent of a director whose legacy has so much been overshadowed by Hitchcock.

In 1941,Georges Lacombe made "le dernier des six",adapted from a Stanislas André Steeman book.Clouzot wrote the script,and introduced his girlfriend Suzy Delair (Mila Malou, a character whom he created from start to finish,Steeman's sleuth M.Wens was a bachelor).

So here we are again:a new Steeman detective story (probably his masterpiece),Fresnay as the sleuth,and Delair a pain in the neck of a singer.(She had begun to "launch " her " career" of chanteuse in "le dernier des six";I recommend this earlier work to all these who enjoyed the 1942 movie)Steeman did not like the adaptation.The couple Delair/FResnay was not his cup of tea,and anyway,like Hercule Poirot doesn't investigate in "and then there were none",M.Wens (therefore Mila Malou,Clouzot's invention)is absent from the novel "l'assassin habite au 21".But what infuriated Steeman,twas mainly that his story was set in London,and Clouzot (German Occupation) was compelled to film in Paris.

What's the matter?Clouzot's first opus,is a gem,one of these mysteries with the ending you'll never guess.Agatha Christie's fans will relish watching that!Shall I give a clue ?Mathematically,it's a ternary notation.Computers,you can forget it!For the rest,my lips are sealed.

All Clouzot's work ,all that he will brilliantly develop in subsequent works is already here :a rotten microcosm (the boarding-house with a lot of wicked old people predates the school in "les diaboliques" and the small town in "le corbeau".His sarcastic humor shines here there and everywhere.He asserts his extraordinary skills by detailing the supporting characters.Of course a diabolical suspense (and admire the elegance of Clouzot's style,when Fresnay/Wens finds out what's been going on.)

In a nutshell,a serial killer is rampant in town:they discover his address.Alas it's a boarding-house!So whodunit?Sometimes I wonder whether this charming thriller might not be superior to the renowned "le corbeau" which was released the following year.With it,a director who influenced countless ones was born.

Director Henri-Georges Clouzot's first film is an Agatha Christie style mystery, with the murderer constrained to the set of people in a boarding-house and a detective (Pierre Fresnay) investigating them. It's a playful script, buoyed by the perky Suzy Delair who is both his mistress and an aspiring opera singer (and in an interesting side note, Delair, a year younger than Olivia de Havilland, is as of this writing also still alive). The subject matter of a serial killer who leaves a calling card on his victims is of course serious, but it's presented here in a pretty light way, a bit like a stage play. It's also a little hokey in how its investigation proceeds and it's not all that kind to the French police who seem a bit foolish, but the resolution to the mystery is excellent and hard to see coming.

The film was made when the Nazis were occupying France, so Clouzot was working for the German production company Continental Films, and undoubtedly walking a tightrope (one that would get him into trouble with his countrymen in his next film, Le Corbeau). Some critics read veiled commentary about the Nazis in aspects of the plot (e.g. a murder shot from the perspective of the killer early on, or how heavy-handed police interrogations that border on torture can elicit a false confession), but I didn't see it quite as symbolically. The possible reference to a Nazi salute is intriguing though, and regardless, it's mind-boggling to think of this light mystery being made at this point in French history.

Henri-Georges Clouzot's solo feauture-length directing debut (which he also co-wrote) was certainly an auspicious one; the film is closer to American "commercial" entertainment than to French "art" cinema, but that's not a bad thing. Lots of humor (like an early scene depicting the bureaucratic ladder of the French police), some great POV camerawork, a terrific music score that bursts out at key moments, a delightful Suzy Delair as the French equivalent of Lucille Ball, and above all a totally surprising resolution that I almost guarantee you will not guess ahead of time. Highly recommended. Only flaw: a hurried final scene. *** out of 4.

On a street, there is a house at 21, several residents reside, each has a room, and one contains a killer, in this extremely thrilling (in the sense of enjoyable) chiller, but do not pre-empt the culprit, do not presume. Inspector Wens decides to take one of the rooms, as the killings continue, suspects assumed, they're arrested and locked up, but cadavers still pop up, though the suspects are reduced, so you assume.

A wonderful piece of whodunit filmmaking that leaves you scratching your head while smiling at the antics of L'inspecteur Wenceslas Wens and his partner Mila Malou, as they sift through the curious souls who inhabit number 21, in their search for the murderer, Monsieur Durand.

This film is about a series of murders all done, apparently, by someone calling themselves 'Mr. Durand'. At the scene of every murder, they leave a calling card taking credit for the killings and Inspector Wens is determined to get to the bottom of it. The trail leads to a boarding house and, with the unwelcome help of Mila, he will attempt to solve these horrible crimes.

Henri-Georges Clouzot directed some wonderful French thrillers and is one of the best directors of his age. Films like his "Le Corbeau", "Quai des Orfèvres", "Wages of Fear" and "Diabolique" are brilliant and must be seen. However, in this early film, "The Murderer Lives at Number 21" he does not show the greatness that would make him famous. It's decent--but also a bit annoying. Why annoying? Because Clouzot was wonderful with suspense but combining suspense with comedy was a big mistake--making this an enjoyable but lightweight film. I say lightweight because some of the acting is so incredibly broad that scenes with Mila (Suzy Delair) are often a bit painful. Overall, it is worth seeing--but don't expect his later brilliance.

I often wish I could speak French, especially when watching a French movie billed as a mystery/comedy. I can't seem to get my funny bone around the Gallic sense of humor - unless the sub-titles are doing me in. I thought "The Murderer Lives At #21" was a good, worthwhile mystery movie, one which was unsolvable until the end of the picture. I thought Pierre Fresnay was a very good Inspector Wens and I wished there could have been a whole series of Insp. Wens films. I recall that he played the sympathetic part of Capt. Boeldieu in "Grand Illusion", and I have a recording of him in a 1936 Cole Porter musical (he spoke but did not sing).

But why did the aura of menace disappear after the first murder? I really thought we were in for a special treat at that point. I liked the motley collection of suspects at the boarding house but none of them were menacing or threatening, just a peculiar group of people. Suzy Delair's presence is marginally grating, just as it was in "Quai Des Orfevres", and once again regaled us with a forgettable song or two. Someone mentioned the chemistry between Fresnay and Delair was reminiscent of Nick and Nora Charles. That may be so, but as I stated much of the playful banter was lost due to the language barrier. Moreover, I was never a fan of attempts to mix comedy and mystery, which was prevalent up until WW II. I don't think they blend well as one element tends to cancel out the other. This could be the reason for the aforementioned disappearance of the aura of menace.

I gave this picture a rating of 7. The comparison between Clouzot and Hitchcock was not yet a valid one; at this point Hitchcock could mop the floor with the neophyte Clouzot.

Detective Pierre Fresnay (Wens) goes to stay in a boarding house in the guise of a priest in order to catch a serial killer – Mr Durand. His annoying girlfriend Suzy Delair (Mila) also checks in and we meet a cast of characters who may or may not be the killer.

The film starts well with the sequence of the drunk lottery winner in the bar and the mysterious woman wanting to befriend him. We follow his story but it is pretty short-lived. It's a gripping beginning and one that draws you into the film which, at this point, looks like it is going to be an effective thriller. The next memorable scene comes when the petty criminal is sitting on the bus shelter and insulting the policeman – very funny. However, that's where the comedy should have stopped. Unfortunately, the whole film descends into a comedy/mystery and so all tension is diffused and the audience just watches without any real emotional connection. It could have been so much better.

There are other pluses - the dialogue is sharp and magician Jean Tissier (Triquet) lives in an amusing room cluttered with objects that are no longer functional - and minuses – Delair's voice is annoying and on my copy, the subtitles weren't quite in sync so it helped that I understood French so as to follow who was saying what. As entertainment, the film is an OK whodunit like many others.

Police inspector Wens is on the case of mysterious serial killer 'Monsieur Durand'. As he determines the killer lives on a boarding house, he goes there undercover... Only to be followed by his mistress, determined to help him.

Quite a fun and effective detective thriller, more on the vein of Sherlock Holmes than a film-noir. Quite a bit of Hitchcock too, with a lightheartedness and comedic tries to go with the tension creating scenes; plus Pierre Fresnay does an excellent job as Inspector Wens, being witty and charming.

The plot is good, the mystery develops nicely and never gets dull, and the explanation is satisfying; however, Henri-George Clouzot's use of his mistress, Suzy Delair, as a comic relief character was a really bad move. She is both irritating and completely meaningless, serving no purpose to the story; I actually fast-forwarded her singing scenes.

A problem that I often find in Hitchcock's formula, though, is that the comedic attempts tend to fall flat and the indecision of whether he wants a thriller or a comedy undermines the end result. Thankfully Clouzot seemed to understand it, as he never made such a heavy use of Hitchcock's mood-lightening tactics again.

Overall, despite the drawbacks created from its silliness and Suzy Delair's abysmal performance, "L'assassin habite... au 21" is still a nice, fun detective thriller. A good start to Clouzot's career and early proof of his talent.

By and large, individual genres do not mix well in cinema. For this reason, most filmmakers tend to make films belonging to a particular genre. However, there have been exceptions to this role. One can cite the films by Alfred Hitchcock where comedy has been mixed with suspense and thriller. French film 'The Murderer Lives at Number 21' also belongs to this category of films where one can find an absolutely perfect harmony of comedy with suspense. In this film, Clouzot has used all tricks up his sleeve to entertain his audiences up to the hilt. There is enormous interest to be taken in all scenes as Clouzot's characters speak a lot about France and its people. French culture especially mannerisms of ordinary French people have been vividly described. A simple visit to the guest house would suffice to know how it is difficult for the police to arrest a killer who has put the entire city in trouble because of his foolishness. As a family film, 'L'Assassin habite au 21' does enormous justice to the topic portrayed in the film. However, those viewers who have placed bets on the ending would be disappointed.

Worth seeing and interesting as Henri-georges Clouzot's fist film and for the fact that it is made courtesy of the German occupation. Otherwise, despite oozing a certain amount of charm this strange mix of an Agatha Christie like mystery, transposed to France, and a French version of the American screwball comedy is somewhat lacking. It has its amusing moments but is largely stage bound and there is a stiffness despite the constant attempts at light relief.

Henry-Georges Clouzot is one my favorite French director mainly by Quai Des Orfèvres and Le Salaire de la Peur, his debut couldn't be better, it's a magnific picture, a true perfect blend of crime, thriller and sophisticated comedy, all in high profile, the plot summary is about a serial killer who was haunting Paris, he authorities are gonna crazy and that impose an ultimate to French Police department, a short time to catch this killer self-called Mr. Durant, the skillful Inspector Wess having an information of the hideout of the killer at decaying pension at bad area, he introduces himself as a Pastor hoping get some clues to reach on the killer, there are many potential suspects, between comings and goings he reach in a killer, nevertheless all fall down even in jail another crime was committed by Mr. Durant, fabulous picture and an unexpected ending!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5

The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (1942) : Brief Review -

Henri-Georges Clouzot's debut film set the bar for himself and for the new-age French thrillers as well. Clouzot was not one of those directors who had done a lot of films. He only did a small amount of work, but it was all noticeable. The Murderer Lives at Number 21 was a new-age French thriller with a slide touch of comedy, and it fulfills all the excitement around the subject. It's a short one and hence more engaging than any other French thriller of that time. Even Jean Renoir's films bore me sometimes due to the long runtime, which wasn't necessary, but I can watch Clouzot's films on repeat mode because they are pacy and quick. The film is about the hunt by detective Wens (Pierre Fresnay) for the murderer with the famous tag of 'Monsieur Durand', who leaves calling cards and manages to be everywhere at once. With the aspiring actress Mila Malou (Suzy Delair), Wens follows clues to a seedy boarding house where he hopes to find the murderer. Multiple suspects are interrogated and even arrested, but after a while, it comes to their notice that maybe it's not the one they are looking for. The suspense gets revealed only at the end, because the narrative doesn't give you any clues until you reach that point. The film has a good acting unit consisting of Suzy Delair, Pierre Fresnay, Noël Roquevert, Pierre Larquey, Jean Tissier and others, who have performed well enough. Stanislas-André Steeman's novel was well written, so the scripting was never an issue here; it was only a matter of execution. Henri-Georges Clouzot did that in his debut. He showed that new-age thrillers can be made without any intricate submissions or out-and-out artistic theories. You understand the film and its context well, and that's all that matters here. If Hitchcock was to make a French thriller about a serial killer, then I think he would have made The Murderer Lives at Number 21.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This is the second Clouzot movie i watch. The first (Les diaboliques) was a great movie (8,3/10 is my rating). This one is not as good, still a delight to watch. It's a comedy/mystery movie, a whodunit. It's more insane than you can imagine, especially for a 1942 movie, insane in a good way : It's almost surreal at times. There are some hilarious scenes, Suzy Delair is unbelieavably funny and overall, it was a fun ride. I can't rate it higher even though the final revelation is very clever for a movie of this time era. I mean, it's not mindblowing neither groundbreaking or exciting. Just an enjoyable movie for everyone.

Henri-Georges Clouzot's first film gives little hint of the future, great neo Hitchcockian director of "Diabolique". What we have here is, at best, half ass, Gallic Agatha Christie with far too much comic relief in place of tension and uneasiness for which such relief would be needed. And it's not as if the comedy is all that funny! Indeed, Suzy Delair is so annoying with her screechy voice and constant yelling that I was hoping against hope that she would be one of Monsieur Durand's early victims. I will say, however, that I did not see the denouement coming and its theme of collaboration is appropriate to a film made in France in 1942. C plus.

This light murder mystery, with Pierre Fresnay as the cool detective and the delightful (if a bit overwhelming) Suzy Delair as his "sidekick," somewhat a la Nick & Nora Charles, is in style and casting (Fresnay, Pierre Larquey, Noel Roquevert), sexual tension, even theme - the ambiguity of criminal responsibility - a prelude to Clouzot's far more significant Le corbeau (1943). The Fresnay-Delair duo brings fresh air to the claustrophobic space of Vichy cinema.