Nearly 50 years later, the opening scene of Hollywood-blacklisted director Joseph Losey’s Mr. Klein (1976) still has the power to shock. A naked, middle-aged woman stands mutely while being roughly examined by a doctor—although not examined so much as measured and evaluated, from the length of nose to manner of gait. The setting is 1942 Paris, where the collaborationist Vichy government in occupied France marches to the Nazis’ antisemitic tune.
The doctor is not a man with a horrendous bedside manner; he is trying to judge whether the woman is Jewish. Producer and star Alain Delon is Robert Klein, a wealthy French art collector who lowballs desperate Jewish clients selling their Old World masterpieces, and virtually consigns his mistress Jeanine (Juliet Berto) to his bed, for ready access. Klein’s good life—roaming his lavishly appointed, huge apartment, decked out in an embroidered smoking jacket—is swiftly upended when he discovers a copy of "The Jewish Bulletin” outside his door, with his name on the mailing label.
Klein immediately heads for the local office of the Jewish publication, where he is informed that the subscriber list has been turned over to the police. A mildly exasperated but bemused Klein beats feet to the police station where he learns that a second Robert Klein exists, although he is told nothing more. Suddenly, Klein is in the system, so to speak, and an elaborate cat-and-mouse chase ensues, with Klein becoming ever more obsessed with the identity of this second namesake—a man obviously setting Klein up to cover his own ethnic tracks—while also trying to avoid the indifferent authorities who will be content to capture one or more Kleins.
Along the way, Klein enlists the aid of Pierre (Michel Lonsdale)—Klein is having an affair with Pierre’s wife, Nicole (Francine Bergé)—who encourages Klein to obtain copies of birth certificates for his parents and grandparents. Meanwhile, Klein receives a mysterious letter from a stranger named Florence (Jeanne Moreau), exhorting him to take a specific train to see her.
Klein does so and is met at the station by a driver who whisks him to a beautiful chateau in a heavily-wooded forest. There, he playfully and then threateningly tries to gain information regarding the other Klein, with whom the married Florence is having an affair.
Delon—whose handsome matinee idol looks only partially mask his cold blue-eyed stare—is perfectly cast as Klein, a character who is predatory at worst and indifferent at best (at one point, he and Jeanine attend an antisemitic theatrical show during which Klein laughs and an uncomfortable Jeanine asks to leave). Mr. Klein is a racially-charged story of mistaken identity that keeps viewers guessing right up to its startling conclusion.
Presented with a solid 4K digital restoration, extras include interviews with critic Michel Ciment and editor Henri Lanoë, interviews from 1976 with director Joseph Losey and actor Alain Delon, the 1986 full-length documentary Story of a Day on the real-life Vél d’Hiv Roundup of Jews in Paris (a central historical element of Mr. Klein), and a leaflet with an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau. A searing indictment of WWII French/Nazi collaboration, Mr. Klein is also an effective slow-burn thriller with a standout performance by Alain Delon in the title role. Highly recommended for classic film collections in public libraries and history collections in academic libraries.