Wednesday, 17 July 2019

THE MAN ON THE EIFFEL TOWER no stars

A real curio but a terrible film. For years it was thought that "The Man on the Eiffel Tower" was lost until two worn out copies were discovered and restored, after a fashion, by UCLA. It's based on a Georges Simenon Maigret novel and was filmed on location in post-war Paris by Burgess Meredith on Ansco Reversal Film, no original elements of which exist today, (the location work is terrific, the color process considerably less so).

Meredith also appears as the prime suspect in a double murder that Charles Laughton's Maigret is investigating. The real killer, however, is psychopathic Franchot Tone. Both he and Meredith look very uncomfortable in their roles though Laughton is excellent and comes close to redeeming the picture, (close but not close enough). The real star, of course, is Paris and its number one tourist attraction which features prominently in the films climax. Of historical interest, then but hardly worth seeing.

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