Duvivier, one of the all-time Great French directors, spent the first part of the nineteen forties in Hollywood where her turned out a string of first-rate movies (Lydia, Flesh And Fantasy, Tales Of Manhattan) but when he returned to his native France he did so with style and panache with this film, one of the finest French films of the forties and easily fit to stand beside such gems as Les Visituers du Soir, Les Enfants du Paradis, Adieu, Leonard, Les Portes de la nuit, etc. The source material was, once again, Georges Simenon who, at the last count, has had something like 170 films made from his vast output. Duvivier employed one of the finest French Screenwriters, Charles Spaak to adapt the story of the 'outsider' who is so easy to blame when things go wrong. Michel Simon, brilliant as ever, is doubly an 'outsider' here for in addition to being Jewish he is also eccentric and unsociable which, naturally, in the blinkered eyes of society, makes him the number one suspect for a local murder, especially when local good-time girl, Viviane Romance, lately out of the slammer and back with the piece of scum for whom she took the rap, plants incriminating evidence in Simon's flat. Set-up after set-up reeks of style and there's a nice sequence on the bumper cars in a funfair where M. Hire (Simon) is hemmed in by other cars, anticipating the climax when the crowd will surround him baying for blood and there's also a nod to an earlier Simon triumph, Boudu, in a scene shot alongside the bouquinistes that line the Seine. Patrice Leconte remade Panique as Monsieur Hire with Michel Blanc in the eponymous role and it remains a fine film but this is the version they all have to beat. A regular poster has remarked that he'd rather have this film than ten A Bout de souffles and I know what he means except he should have said Twenty. Godard is not fit to shine Duvivier's shoes.
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writers_reign15 July 2007
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christopher-underwood24 October 2019This is a pretty monumental film, impressing with clarity of picture, busyness of street action and immediacy of plot development right from the start. Indeed this, beautifully photographed film engages from the beginning and roars along from scene to scene and image to image to inform in the most economical of ways before gradually slowing down as the story deteriorates into something quite terrible. Viviane Romance plays the leading lady, who is anything but, with great style but is this true love? Or is this sheer greed or even true hatred that leads to such panic. The sad, suspenseful ending reminded me of Frankenstein's monster, Quasimodo and even poor old King Kong but the true aim here by the writer Simenon in his original book is surely his own country folk and their disgraceful behaviour during WW2. Frighteningly effective cinema.
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plushing-417-7329251 September 2019SPOILERS
First I note that a reviewer thought the image and sound were poor, maybe as a result of post-war conditions in France. I have seen the Criterion blu-ray (Dec. 2018) and it is excellent in both regards. My question is how can the supposed alibi be logical? Killer says victim's watch broke when he murdered her, and he set the time back half an hour and then went to a cafe -- "air-tight alibi". I don't follow. Wouldn't setting her watch ahead be more to the point so the supposed time of death would be while he was in the cafe? -
dbdumonteil4 August 2003Spoilers Just back from the USA,Duvivier was beginning the second part of his French career.His post- war work was relegated to purgatory for a long time,because of the snobbery of the nouvelle vague die hards .That this powerful movie has already several positive reviews is proof positive that there is ,at times,justice in the universe."Panique" means more to me than ten "à bout de soufflé".
"Panique" is one of the best Simenon adaptations for the screen.But when Duvivier tackles a book ,he makes it his very own.Elements of his past and future work emerge:the fortune-teller and the predictions were already here in his American gem "flesh and fantasy"(1943)Viviane Romance's double-dealing(playing a double game) character resembles Danielle Delorme's Catherine in "voici le temps des assassins" (1956).
A girl (Romance ,who portrayed a bitch in "la belle équipe" (1936)) is released from jail and she meets up her lover who has just committed a murder:he killed a woman to steal her money.But a strange man ,a Jew,saw the whole scene and he's got an evidence .This witness is masterfully portrayed by Michel Simon (who was part of the cast of "la fin du jour" ) one of the giants of the French cinéma.
M.Hire ,the Jew, has always been a solitary man .He's never had a friend,either at school or in the army;he's been an outcast for all his life. Simon gives a subdued ,restrained performance ,as powerful as when he portrays colorful characters.The satanic lovers have found the ideal scapegoat ,and the whole town will have its culprit.
Duvivier's directing is awesome :the lovers , talking about their future near a church where the congregations is singing heavenly canticles is pure film noir genius;Simon pursued by a madding crowd is filmed with stunning mastery;it compares favorably to Fritz Lang's "fury"."Panique" indeed !And the dialogue follows suit (the center of the action revolves around a fair )"I can stop the music",the fairground man says, "now the show is in the street".nothing will stop the crowds who want to take the law in their own hands.
Duvivier knows how to grab his audience and he will not leave you till the final scene where a final clue packs a real wallop.
Let this movie be an introduction to the other Duvivier films noirs of the forties and the fifties :"sous le ciel de Paris" "l'affaire Maurizius" and the incredible "voici le temps des assassins".
Ingmar Bergman was rapturous about it.
Remake in 1988 by Patrice Leconte,in which Michel Blanc and Sandrine Bonnaire take on Michel Simon 's and Vivianne Romance's parts. -
Blind love... For me, this is just one of the best movies ever. Michel Simon shows here how gifted an actor he was. His character can hardly inspire sympathy, anyway you can only feel at least disturbed by what happens to him... the bad part is played by the crowd, merciless, depicted as a gang of sympathetic, funny, common characters... and how cruel. it's a history of common cruelty, of a disillusioned 'noone loves me'. there are some haunting scenes in this movie: the bumper cars, the treason(s), and... the terrible flight on the roofs... And Mr Hire who has build himself a shell, which he thought could not be damaged... but... blind love... Simply: Duvivier was and is one of the ten best movie directors ever. At least 'Panique' is the best adaptation of a novel written by Simenon ever.
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1nadon15 March 2003Michel Simon plays with a lot of subtelty a very recognizable type of human being.Very modern acting on his part. The supporting cast plays in this eccentric manner that characterizes French cinema of this era and they are very good.Totally enjoyable movie.Great direction by Duvivier.It deserves to be a classic.It deserves to be on DVD.
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Although sound and picture quality are abysmal, as in a lot of French films from the 1940's, I do enjoy watching this film for its acting and also for the message it delivers. A murder has been committed in a sector of Paris and all eyes are drawn towards a solitary old gentleman, a slightly eccentric person living in the neighbourhood who had had some contact with the murdered girl (but who is not her murderer). The main object of the film is not "who dunnit" but rather that of painting a portrait of human nature as portrayed by local residents in their attitude of designating Mr Hire, as the man is named as being the obvious guilty party. One can not but have symapthy with the poor old gentleman who is sweet as a church mouse but who, it is true, does have some eccentric habits. Basically speaking, he who is different from the mass is vilipended by that mass at the first opportunity. Thankfully in the end, the real murderer is found, but meanwhile, Mr Hire's character has been blackened ! A remake of the film was made in the 1990's under the title "Monsieur Hire". The original Monsieur Hire was played in 1946 by the great Michel Simon ( an actor whom I adore ). The Monsieur Hire of the 1990's was played by Michel Blanc, more known for comic or semi-comic roles but who nevertheless delivers an excellent performance for this role !
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proud_luddite17 June 2018In a tight-knit Parisian neighbourhood, a murder has taken place. Gossip leads to the belief that the murderer is Monsieur Hire (Michel Simon), an unsociable outsider.
As murder mysteries go, this one is unique and fascinating. The murderer is revealed early in the film. What takes place from then on is even more intriguing than most other murder stories.
Most fascinating is the portrayal of Hire - both as played by Simon and as written by Julien Duvivier (the film's director) and Charles Spaak. One can easily see why he is unlikeable in various scenes; yet, he is admirable for acting confidently and morally when he is unfairly treated with contempt by those who have much less character than he has. While anti-Semitism does not seem to be behind the mistrust of Hire, he is further isolated as he is the only Jew in the neighbourhood. The viewer also learns of Hire's isolation beginning in childhood even within his own family.
These opposite feelings toward this character are part of the richness of this story. While we feel great sympathy for him by the conclusion, a shocking revelation at the end leaves the viewer with other feelings: it seems that in Hire's extreme isolation from community standards, his actions and inactions contributed to his own problems.
There is also a theme about loners that goes beyond Hire. Two other characters seem to possess this trait. One is a clever detective who is very observant and is not in the least swayed by mob mentality. The other is the murder victim herself as the tributes to her mention that she more or less kept to herself.
As a director, Duvivier has done a superb job in keeping the suspense alive leading to a shocking crowd scene at the end that has culminated as the result of a vile mob mindset looking for a scapegoat. While there is so much to praise about "Panique", its greatest asset is how much it leaves one thinking after its completion. - dbamateurcritic
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS:
1) Directing by Julien Duvivier 2) Screenplay by Julien Duvivier and Charles Spaak (based on the novel "Les Fiançailles de M. Hire" by Georges Simenon 3) Acting by Michel Simon. -
Anti-social Michel Simon (M Hire) gradually becomes suspect number one for a murder that has occurred in a small French town. He is disinterested in making friends with anyone and keeps himself to himself until Viviane Romance (Alice) arrives in town. She's been in prison serving time for a crime committed by her boyfriend Paul Bernard (Alfred) who also resides in the town. The police know she didn't commit the crime and are watching her. Simon has a trick up his sleeve but can he break the love bond between Romance and Bernard?
Nobody likes a busy-body - I have one as a neighbour. She hides down the side by her front door and waits there to pounce on us when we arrive at our house by car. All of a sudden, it's "Oh hello!" She doesn't realize we can see her feet waiting there before she casually greets us as if we all just happen to be in the same place at once. And, my God is she a crashing bore with her tales of her family and all the local gossip. We are not interested. Well, Michel Simon is the opposite to that - he keeps himself to himself and you really do warm to him throughout the film. By the end of the film you are urging him on in the terrible situation he finds himself in. Only Viviane can save him.
The cast are good in this tale of murder that grips you and keeps your attention throughout. The dialogue is also very funny in places, especially from the anti-social Michel Simon. I love how he handles the police when interviewed. And check out his confrontation with Bernard - it's genius! He is one cool customer and by this time, the audience really like him.
Back to my neighbours, we have another couple who have recently moved opposite us and they are even worse. They want to socialize at every opportunity and it is just not on! -
cafescott12 February 2017Panique (1946, Black and White), a French crime drama, is very profound. It simply mesmerizes. The actors are all terrific, the dialogue is superb and Julien Duvivier's direction is very instructive. It tells an excellent story, which really connects to viewers on an individual basis. Considering the war-torn era (1946) from which it emerged, a period when conformity must have prevailed, Panique is an exceedingly brave denunciation of mob rule.
In the Paris suburbs, an old maid has been murdered. The police have no clues. The misanthropic, Monsieur Hire (Michel Simon, age 51, in a career defining performance) is the only member of the working-class town who does not show concern for the deceased. Monsieur Hire is Mister Unpopular. No one else enjoys his gloomy, occasionally very creepy company. He is emblematic of a person that everyone else likes to pick on. (While there are no explicit politics in the film, it appears the Jewish appearance of M. Hire in 1946 France spoke on behalf of those being persecuted by the rise of Fascism.)
Shortly before the maid's demise, the ravishing Alice (Viviane Romance) was released from prison. She had taken the rap for some (unmentioned) crime committed by her boyfriend, Alfred (Paul Bernard). The perpetually scheming Alfred is regarded as handsome by both Alice and an especially vocal prostitute. However, Alfred is a scumbag; as not only did he commit the crime for which Alice went to jail, but he is also the person who brutally killed the old maid. (It was during a botched robbery seeking the servant's money. BTW, the story reveals the maid's killer early on.)
As Alice returns to society, she and Alfred pretend not to know each other. They put on an act for observers by pretending to fall in love at first sight. Tensions elevate when Monsieur Hire begins staring at the two from his adjacent apartment. We will learn that the dour old man finds Alice so attractive that he watches her even when she is alone with Alfred. When Alfred realizes the spying is occurring he becomes incensed with the older man. Alfred employs his unique charisma to convince Alice to get to know Monsieur for the purpose of finding some way to hurt him.
While teasing him with her sensuous wiles, Alice becomes acquainted with the Monsieur. Contrary to the public perception of him, it turns out that Monsieur is actually very sharp, firm in temperament and possessing quiet confidence. Yet, the older person just can't grasp she is with Alfred. Monsieur immediately falls in love with the woman and proposes marriage to her.
As the conclusion draws near we have a woman who is loved by two men. One of the men is a peerless manipulator and a murderer for a crime still under investigation. The other man is as widely unpopular as he is misanthropic. The story (adapted from Georges Simenon's novel by Charles Spaak and Julien Duvivier) leads to a predictable but unforgettable finish. As a viewer, you feel very alone; certainly the haunting conclusion speaks very truthfully about this world.
The running time is 91 minutes. The scenes flow seamlessly. If it is possible to feel this way about a Black and White movie, the events seem to be unfolding before your eyes. (By the way, it is interesting how Paul Bernard's name is reportedly the 24th listed in the credits. Perhaps this was done so not to encourage children to admire Alfred.)
Julien Duvivier's direction in this is highly regarded by many. I really enjoyed noticing when Duvivier has his camera tilting up at an actor, versus looking down; as well as when someone's entire body is seen or just part of it. Duvivier's imagery utilizes the entire frame. This director tells a great story. Overall, every participant makes a perfect contribution.
I recommend Panique very highly. C'est la vie!
(Note to IMDb: I am not sure whether I have spoiled anything. So, I checked off "contains spoiler" to be sure I don't.) -
brogmiller26 April 2020Just as 'Voici les temps des assassins' is Julien Duvivier's best film of the fifties, this must surely be his finest of the forties. I would go so far as to say this is one of the greatest films made by any director in any decade. This adaptation by Charles Spaak of Georges Simenon's novel of 1933 differs slightly from the original novel in which Monsieur Hire is a petty crook of Jewish origin who is under police surveillance for the murder of a young prostitute. In this version he is a highly intelligent, bookish, unsociable loner. This of course makes him an obvious target for the petty, small-minded mediocrities who inhabit the town. Made so soon after the end of the German occupation this film is redolent of collaboration, denunciation and scapegoating. One of the most terrifying of lines is spoken by the loud mouthed, rabble-rousing butcher: 'If there is a black sheep in the flock you slaughter it'. Even by Michel Simon's standards his characterisation of the kind and tragically misunderstood Monsieur Hire is superlative and represents film acting at its very best. Viviane Romance and Paul Bernard excel as the utterly loathsome Alice and Alfred whose machinations cause his downfall. Technically the film is faultless with never a wasted shot and building to a thrilling climax. Mention must be made of Duvivier's preferred editor Marthe Poncin. Behind the camera is Nicholas Hayer who also shot that other masterpiece of mob misrule 'Le Corbeau'. Like Clouzot's film this is dark and deeply cynical and reflects Duvivier's own view 'that we are far from people who love each other'. If any film deserves full marks then it must surely be this.
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Snow Leopard31 May 2002With an interesting story and some good suspense, this mystery/thriller works pretty well despite a lack of any particularly appealing characters. At the beginning, it sets up a complicated situation, and builds at a good pace to lead up to a tense finale. It has quite a low-budget look to it, but with a story of this kind, sometimes that actually fits in rather well.
There is a lot going on right from the beginning. In a neighborhood where a murder has just been committed, there is a young woman coming home from prison, seeking out the lover for whom she took the blame. There is also an unpopular and eccentric resident whom no one can figure out. These and other characters soon get involved in a lengthy cat-and-mouse game that keeps things interesting the rest of the way. It would be even more compelling if at least some of the characters were a little easier to sympathize with, but the story itself is enough to hold your attention. One slight drawback - not a fault of the original film-makers - is that the titles (at least on the English version that seems to be available) are very light and often hard to read, so you miss a few things, unless by chance your French is sharp enough to catch everything.
Overall, it's above average for its genre. If you enjoy film noir or older thrillers, and don't mind a low-budget style, this one should be worth a look. -
Finding Panique and L'affaire Maurizius to be the last movies by auteur Julien Duvivier that I had on disc waiting to get viewed,I decided to watch Panique due to it being the shortest of the two.About 10 minutes in,I was shocked to find,that unlike all the other Duvivier,the subtitles appeared to be half finished,with vast lines of dialogue being left subs free.Originally planning to make Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1960 movie The Truth for the 100th viewing in my French film fest,I was thrilled to stumble on a fan edition of Duvivier's title with "complete" subtitles,which led to me getting ready to go in a panic over panique.
The plot:
Taking the jail time for her boyfriend,Alice and Alfred Chartier reunite.Whilst Alice was away,Chartier moved to a small town so that they could be somewhere where no one would have any suspicions about them. During Alice's jail time,Chartier got into a relationship with a long-term single women in the town.Finding the women less than willing to pass him cash,Chartier brutally kills her.As talk about the killing spreads round the town,loner Monsieur Hire starts to get ready to show the evidence he has of Chartier doing the murder. Suspecting from the vibes of a fortune teller the Hire knows something,Chartier and Alice set their sights on making Hire believe that his fortunes have changed.
View on the film:
Returning to France after doing work in the US,co-writer/(along with Charles Spaak) director Julien Duvivier looks at the fresh Film Noir wounds of post-WWII France. Bringing a touch of horror back with him, Duvivier & cinematographer Nicolas Hayer hang a smoked Gothic Horror atmosphere on the decayed Film Noir shadows,set alight by Duvivier circling the towns people after Hire (who is Jewish) like the villagers in a Gothic Horror going to burn the castle down,as the "monster" Hire falls to Noir doom. Lighting Alfred Chartier up like a demonic china doll during a confrontation with Hire, Duvivier whips up a cracking Film Noir mood bursting with dazzling whip-pans listening on the villagers tales and elegantly standing in the shadows to taste the venomous relationship between Chartier and Alice.
Coming back to his home screen with an adaptation of Georges Simenon's book,the screenplay by Spaak and Duvivier expertly dissect the ripples from the fears during the Occupation with the bleak,burning heart of the Film Noir. Keeping Hire away from the town in his house/castle,the writers send the rumours about Hire around the town like wildfire,a place where privacy is exchanged for "informers" sharing details about "odd" characters in the town,and the collective mind set of the town behaves like a law unto itself. Bringing the viper lovers back together,the writers deliciously make each of them as bad as each other,from Chartier casually talking about murder and snapping people back in their place,to Femme Fatale Alice ruthlessly taking advantage of other peoples loves and weaknesses.
Standing tall as the Film Noir shadows clasp round him, Michel Simon gives an incredible performance as Hire,whose clinical mind is set with Simon's expressiveness,that is met with an overwhelming passion for a Femme Fatale,who Hire's mind is all too aware of possess a scorpion sting. Attempting to not bring attention to himself, Paul Bernard gives a brilliant performance as Chartier,via Chartier's wry smirk being used by Bernard to barely contain the darkness under his mask. Curling up beside Chartier and Hire,the beautiful Viviane Romance gives an utterly chilling performance as Alice,thanks to Romance splendidly twisting Alice from looking like a sweet nurtured gal to an unrelentingly vicious Femme Fatale,as panique sets in. -
nedeljkodjukic8829 August 2014This movie really shows how easy every man and woman and even little children can come to show their hidden flaws. On top of those that are not hidden... It reminds you how we don't really belong to some special and pure species and can easily become more blood-thirsty than any animal.
"Love, Love, makes the world beautiful!" - ends the movie ironically and the town's people continue their lives as if nothing happened, as if they didn't just drive an innocent man to death. And it is Love for a wrong man that made Alice do so many bad and terrible things, it is Love for wrong woman that made M. Hire not to turn the real killer to justice and that cost him his own life. -
JohnHowardReid11 November 2011A Filmsonor Production. French release: 15 January 1947. U.S. release through Film Rights International. New York opening at the Rialto: 26 November 1947. 91 minutes. Available on an L.C.J. Editions DVD. As the copyright expired in 1997, there is also a poor Public Domain DVD kicking around with hard-to-read English sub-titles.
SYNOPSIS: When you think about it and ask yourself some key questions, the plot doesn't make a great deal of sense, particularly as (in order to throw viewers off the scent) Duvivier has Vivian Romance play a key scene with the wrong reaction.
COMMENT: Duvivier's first film on returning to France after his wartime stint in the USA (during which he made one of my all-time favorite movies, Tales of Manhattan), in this superb thriller in which the atmosphere builds slowly but engrossingly into one of the most brilliantly staged climaxes the cinema has ever seen. In the lead role, Michel Simon plays with such presence and authority that we overlook the character's many unsympathetic qualities. He is well-matched by Viviane Romance who contrives to keep us hoping that she will land on the right side in the final reel. And among the support characters, even the smallest roles are cleverly individualized. Unlike many of the previous Simenon movies, this one has been produced on a really top-flight budget. Piménoff's sets and Hayer's noirish photography are outstanding. -
elo-equipamentos3 November 2019Just few movies allow me say that Julien Duvivier is already enough to put this French director in a high pedestal, what a movie!!! A lonely mid age man quiet (Michael Simon) monsieur Hire was strongly stigmatized by his neighbors for his odd behavior, reserved, a true smooth guy who hide a bitter past, caught in a sudden love with a newcomer beauty girl Alice (Viviane Romance), she fits perfect to him, meanwhile she very youngest and already has an bedfellow, the swindler Alfred Chartier (Paul Bernard), she was arrested for him almost a year, now together she discovers that he killed an old woman to steal his money, worst Hire knows everything, Alice and Alfred use a unusual wisdom to set up to Mr. Hire, scattering gossips thru the distrustful neighbors, becomes in a true hysteria, fabulous well-crafted concept to expose the real human nature and a strong social criticism, a near masterpiece from this outstanding Julien Duvivier!!!
Resume:
First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9.25 -
sb-47-60873710 August 2018One of the great Noirs, and it has a lot of significance even in the world of today. It depicts the classic Witch-hunt sequence, how a mob could be manipulated to target an innocent person, just since he/she is queer (not in the misused meaning of the term) and not friendly. The three main characters brought Hunchback of Notredam to my mind, not the original, rather the adapted versions, where Esmeralda survived. The victim was Quasimodo, though his Esmeralda and Phoebus were significantly dark in shade unlike Hugo's noir novel. Woman in love, who can sacrifice anything, including herself to protect her lover. This obsession makes Alice different from Esmeralda (who was only ready to sacrifice herself, not others). The Phoebus (Alfred) is self-obsessed like the original, and could go to the extreme, to satisfy not only his carnal but the monetary needs to, and was in fact a gigolo (though not professed) of old women, while Alice wasn't around (serving sentence on his behalf). Quasimodo (Hire) is in love with Alice and wants her, for herself, as well as to protect her from Alfred. Great movie. I won't say I liked it. But that is because I don't like pure noir, nothing wrong with the movie. I put the limits where innocents major protagonists are be deprived, but not of life. But in real life they often do, Of course in the end he was redeemed, but may be only to prove that crime doesn't pay.
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bob9987 April 2013Julien Duvivier was a very capable director who left some fine films--Carnet de bal is one of my favourites, and La belle equipe is a pleasure--but I never thought of him as the equal of Renoir, Clair or Carne. Panique is a solid work that satisfies us; the performances rise to greatness with Simon and Bernard, and the mise-en-scene is very assured. The only cavil I have is with the crowd scenes: they are just not very interesting and do not increase our involvement with the story. Simenon's novel is a character study, not a work of sociology; we don't need to know what the crowd wants.
Michel Simon was a great actor and here he's at his peak. Dryly humorous, love-struck, violent and tough, it's a memorable performance. Viviane Romance was the great vamp of French pre- and post war film, and she gives a lot of vitality to Alice, the girl who gives herself completely to the worthless Alfred. Max Dalban as the bigoted butcher has some very effective scenes. Finally Paul Bernard is splendid as the thuggish Alfred. He made Madeleine Renaud's life miserable in Lumiere d'ete, he dumped Maria Casares in Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (and was paid back royally for his stupidity): truly, Bernard was one of the great stars of the time. -
cairnsdavid17 November 2002Returning to France after spending the war in Hollywood, Duvivier bravely tackled this Simenon story about a persecuted (Jewish) outsider accused of a crime he did not commit. The idea of scapegoating, of minorities being denounced to the authorities, must have been a sensitive one in France just after the occupation. The protagonist, Monsieur Hire, is played by the great Michel Simon (why do boxers make great actors?), and the lovers who frame him are physically attractve yet morally repellant. The suspense at the end will mess you up. There's a gorgeous love scene before a church in the snow. The resolution has the same sense of bleak irony as LES DIABOLIQUES - evil triumphs, then is punished. A bit like World War Two?
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gbill-748771 September 2022"If there is a black sheep in the flock, you slaughter it."
In a small town in France, an erudite loner (Michel Simon) photographs the downtrodden in life and enjoys the finer things, like a nice cut of bloody meat from the local butcher. He's a visitor to the town who's decided to stay for three years, but most of the townsfolk dislike him, with one neighbor telling her daughter to stay away from him. Meanwhile, a crook (Max Dalban) is surprised when his lover (the radiant Viviane Romance) shows up earlier than he'd expected. She had been in prison, you see, serving time for a crime he committed. The town is then stirred up by the discovery that a woman has been murdered in a vacant lot, setting in motion an investigation that is soon derailed by a mob's mentality that isn't all that interested in a careful examination of the facts. Further tension comes from a love triangle formed between the three principals; the outsider has become smitten with the young woman after seeing her in her lingerie ala Rear Window.
There's a lot to love about this film - the story is tight, its black & white cinematography is wonderful, and the message of the danger of a mob, which is so easily fooled by a little misdirection, is on point. Viviane Romance is fantastic here, flirting with her lover, recounting her time behind bars while lying in his arms after sex, and quietly becoming aghast when he confesses his latest crime. It's not clear where her motivations are going to go from there, and the degree to which she's conflicted is played perfectly by Romance. In one scene where she's sitting at face to crotch level, she works her charms on the outsider by briefly showing a nipple and hiking her skirt up her thigh. There are certainly noir overtones to her character and the feel of the film, and a level of suspense on a par with Hitchcock. I also loved the little details from the carnival, like the bumper car footage which foreshadows the town's cruelty to the outsider, and the crassness of the women's wrestling match ("The real deal! No fake boobs! No false calves!").
What takes the film to the next level, however, is its context. It's not important to the story but adds considerable depth to its meaning to know that the character of the loner is Jewish (his last name is revealed to be Hirovitch), and that the story was written at a time when the French were collaborating with their Nazi occupiers. What happens to him is chilling regardless, but it's also laced with this biting commentary about French complicity, and of course, about humanity at large. It's just great stuff from Julien Duvivier - and I loved his final bit of irony, the singer who croons "One day, maybe all of mankind shall walk united, hand in hand, love, love, the beauty of the world" after we've seen his real views. -
st-shot22 June 2023In his small town just outside of Paris, Monsieur Hire (Michel Simon) is considered a bit of an oddity by the locals. Hire makes no attempt to close the gap and mostly keeps to himself. He meets and falls deeply for a woman (Vivianne Romance) however and it will lead into deep trouble for him. When a well known woman is murdered his odd ways are magnified and a witch hunt begins.
French director, Julien Duvivier, who waited the Occupation out in Hollywood promptly returned to his homeland and threw shade at the French with this indictment en masse of a town in search of a scapegoat. A work of the poetic realism movement, Duvivier strings together scene after scene of gracefully lit, sharply edited suspenseful and tender moments that actually culminates with an actual cliffhanger.
Simon is superb. At first cooly dismissive then painfully vulnerable as he falls for Romance. Romance also makes for a fascinating fatale, more capable of feeling guilt than cold bloodedness. The callous town folk, led by Rita Lecio also make for some excellent hypocritical caricatures in a film that is both murder mystery and possibly a recent mirror to history. -
athanasiosze26 December 2023Only 24 reviews for such a great movie? This is sad.
PANIQUE is an amazing crime/drama, with emphasis on the "drama" element. This is not an action movie, with gangsters killing each other. This is a classy/sophisticated piece of art, dealing with issues as lust/passion/corruption/deceit/herd mentality etc. It's multilayered, covering a lot of ground of the "human situation". There are some unexpected turns ("turn" is more proper word than "twist") and it will surprise the viewer. I am being vague in order for not spoiling it, you should watch it without knowing anything about the plot.
Viviane Romance and Michel Simon are magnificent. I remember Simon from another great movie i watched recently (PORT OF SHADOWS), wow, what an actor! Vivian Romance did the unthinkable : Acting wise, she was equal to him.
Not much to say, just watch it if you are a cinephile or if you got tired with cinema mediocrity and you want to cleanse your soul. -
billcr128 March 2022I recently watched Monsieur Hire and I discovered that it is a remake of Panique. Michel Simon is Hire, a loner who is disliked due to his distance from others. He meets Alice(Viviane Romance), a femme fatal with a shady past. Her boyfriend is a lowlife criminal and together they set up Hire. The film is a true black and white film noir and a very good one. I recommend watching in chronological order.
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Schmoozette24 December 2021I'm so glad I caught this film on the Criterion Channel. It really is masterful in characterizations and cinematography. It's a post-war warning about mob rule and how easy it is to scapegoat a "different" person.
But a couple of things, plot-wise, bother me, and I wonder if anyone else feels this way. First off, why did Hire hang on to the photo instead of presenting it to the police from the get-go? Why wouldn't he have wanted the real murderer arrested right off? He even might have been considered a hero for doing so.
Also: In the "lady wrestlers" scene, Alfred tells at least one of his friends (accomplices) that the purse is behind the radiator. Doesn't that reveal himself to be the murderer? Did his friends know he's the actual culprit? I thought this was odd, since he'd gone a long way to try to distance himself from the crime.
But in other respects, this is a fascinating, riveting film that does a satisfactory job of explaning who Hire is and his personality. It seemed clear to me that Alice had conflicting feelings about the situation, as Alfred had basically used her, and Hire was smitten with her and wanted to care for her in a genuine way.
Catch this gem if you can! -
Quick note for context: I'm writing this review in 2021, a full 75 years since this film was made. On this morning the news headlines scream of lynchings & mob violence in Israel/Palestine as well as pandemic-fueled hate crimes in the USA and gawd knows what else because I really need to shut off the news and go back to watching the Teletubbies.
"Panique" is a magnificently shot, suspensefully told, expertly acted, and powerfully poignant tale about the absolute folly of the human race. Brought to us by master director Julien Duvivier, France's favorite cynic, it's a merciless caricature of humankind which was doubtlessly inspired by the postwar paranoia and righteous rage of the time--itself a vigilante backlash to the insanity of fascism that had dunked Europe into its darkest decade.
That's a mouthful, but if you're going to watch this movie, it's pretty important to realize that the story isn't so much a straightforward crime thriller as much as it's a dark fable, a grotesque portrait of humanity at its worst. Almost every character is detestable, with the fascinating exception of our protagonist "Hire" whom we initially dislike for his coldness but who gradually becomes one of the most endearing & charming characters since Quasimodo. Major props to lead actor Michel Simon for his nuanced performance which leads us through this transformation in our own minds.
Plot overview: Hire is an outsider in his own world. Nobody likes him because he's so distant, unapproachable and worst of all, intelligent. Then one day a beautiful woman rolls into town, the mistress of a criminal who's hiding out there. Hire falls for this dark haired beauty, and as you might guess, this gets him into deep bouillabaisse.
What we get next is a slow, relentless buildup of the plight of the lone individual vs the entire human race. One can't help but feel as if this film is Duvivier's greatest autobiographical work, expressing in no uncertain terms how disappointed he was at society for its less-than-kind reception of his works and himself (Duviver was at one point accused of being a traitor for escaping to the USA during the Nazi occupation). This film begins innocently enough but slowly reels us into one of the most cynical portrayals of human society since Night of the Living Dead. But what keeps this flick entertaining rather than outright depressing is the darkly humorous way in which it's presented. For example:
One scene shows a carnival attraction in a cramped tent: a bunch of female wrestlers preparing to pummel each other for a packed audience's thrill. Over the din of the crowd, someone yells to someone else, "They found the murderer!" to which someone else shouts "What? There's a murderer in here?!" to which someone else shouts "A fire! There's a fire!" to which the whole crowd erupts in "FIRE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
This is just one example of Duvivier's many satirical skewerings of society's idiocy and mob mentality. Images, faces and lighting are wonderfully exaggerated. As you're watching this film, the name Hitchcock will cross your mind dozens of times, but make note that this film was made in 1946 predating many of Hitchcock's masterpieces. You can't help but wonder if the master Hitch himself lifted a few tools from Duvivier's toolbox which he would use in films like "Strangers on a Train" (the carnival scenes), "Rear Window" (the impotent voyeur), and "Vertigo" (a stunning climactic scene which I won't spoil).
"Panique" is sure to burn an imprint on your mind. You definitely don't need to be following this with cable news. Now if I can only find my nephew's Teletubbies DVDs all will be well in the world.