Maigret Sets a Trap

The great French actor Jean Gabin played Georges Simenon's famed Inspector Maigret in three French features in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. He makes his debut in Maigret Sets a Trap (1958), which pits Maigret and his team against a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer. Gabin's Maigret is a veteran commander with a methodical approach to crime-solving, working with a loyal team of detectives who together follow multiple leads to a pair of suspects: a butcher (Alfred Adam) whose knife was used in one of the murders, and an artist (Jean Desailly) whose wife (Annie Girardot) is having an affair. Gabin holds the center with understated authority and takes charge as he grills the suspects. Olivier Hussenot costars as a police detective who initially resents Maigret's authority and reputation but is won over by Maigret's respect for and trust in his men. Jean Delannoy directs this adaptation with a deliberate pace and attention to small details as the good guys shadow suspects and interview persons of interest. This doesn't have the film noir style or crime world romanticism of ‘50s gangster movies and it can seem a little slow at times, but it's a satisfyingly low-key murder mystery with some great sets and Paris locations, and it exhibits a very continental attitude toward sexual affairs compared to American films of the period. [Note: Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case is also newly available at the same price.] Recommended. (S. Axmaker)