Henri Verdoux is a suave operator
who turns to a life of crime after losing his job as a bank teller, needing to
support his wife and child. His crime of choice? He marries and murders rich
women for their money.
Monsieur Verdoux is auteur Charles Chaplin’s final
film that he made in America before being essentially deported. It is also one
of his best (and most under seen). He got the idea from Orson Welles and
developed it into a dark comedy. He worked with frequent collaborator
cinematographer Roland
Totheroh on the film, which he scored himself.
Chaplin stars in the film as
Verdoux, and Mady
Correll, Martha
Ray, Isobel
Elsom, Margaret
Hoffman, and Marilyn
Nash feature in support.
The film is Chaplin’s second
talkie and features an excellent performance from Chaplin. It is very funny,
but more so has real dramatic weight as well. Verdoux is a complex character. He
is a murderer, but somehow he is sympathetic. The film was a complete failure
in America as the media and powerful political figures had waged a successful
war against Chaplin, destroying his public image and popularity, pegging him as
a deviant and communist. Monsieur Verdoux did not help his case as it ends on a
very political note, as the main character faces the guillotine and pleads that
humanity turn away from violence and embrace peace and goodwill towards all
men. Not the message Americans wanted to hear on the eve of the Cold War.
Nevertheless, it is a wonderful film that has now found a cult following. It is
a must-see for Chaplin fans.
Trailer: Here
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