Jean Richard , later the most famous Commissaire Maigret on French TV portrays here his first commissaire (superintendent or captain) in this entertaining comedy , full of black humor.
Etienne Ledru, a superintendent, lives peacefully surrounded by his two children, Philippe and Juliette, his second wife, Anne-Marie, his mother-in-law and the maid Janine. But his happiness will be shattered when he discovers that he has been poisoned with arsenic and that the culprit can only be one of his loved ones...
It's not "arsenic and old lace" but if you give it a chance, you will spend a good moment;the colleague Noel Roquevert is true to form ,and his black humor is not really enjoyed by the victim; the
doctor gives a good piece of advice :"if you suffer from arsenic poisening ,stop taking it!"And one by one, the victim begins to suspect his son,his daughter, his wife who might(or might not) have a lover, even his maid and his mother-in-law ; slowly by inexorably sinking into paranoid , he spies on everyone, he does not want to share a meal with them at the table anymore but keeps food in a safe.
The film introduces future French star /producer Jacques Perrin and the boyish look he will keep along his long career ; spot another future legend , Jean -Pierre Cassel ,who appears in a single scene ; also features future stand-up comic Sophie Daumier, with a ponytail.
The denouement is lite Sacha Guitry ;it can't begin to touch the latter's genius ,but why deny yourself the pleasure to watch a little funny comedy?
