Chaplin's black and self-styled comedy of murders inspired initially from Orson Welles . In fact , his old friend Welles at an emotive meeting adviced him to make the film, being based on his own suggestion . A throughout Chaplin effort based on the true story of serial killer Henri Désiré Landru . As the story is actually based on the real-life serial killer Henri Landru , who was executed in France in 1922. Also, both Landru and Verdoux are used furniture dealers . Here Chaplin produced/directed/photographed/edited/scored and starred as a prim and proper bank cashier who undertakes a criminal spree by marrying and killing rich ladies . After losing his job at the bank where he'd worked for 30 years , suave and cynical bank clerk Henri Verdoux (Charles Chaplin) must encounter a new way to support his family ; Mona (Mady Correll) and son , Peter . His new occupation is to marry women . He proves to be quite adept at it, using several aliases , then he marries short-lived wealthy women . As he has several wives at any given time. When his fortune is wiped out in a stock market crash he seems to realise his own end is near and gives himself up when he's recognised by a victim's relative . Chaplin's Bluebeard comedy is a killer! New hat. new coat, new pants, new shoes, new laughs, but the same great Charles Chaplin! A comedy of murders. The story of a modern French Bluebeard! Hysterical laughter!Haunting romance! Shocking drama!Chaplin's Bluebeard Comedy is a Killer!A Comedy of Murders
It feels icy temperature as Chaplin's most amazing , most startling and most invogorating movie , adding some rather bitter anti-war treatments . Chaplin blends a sinister black humor with entertainment , amusement and some pacifist staments . It was mild scandal in its day , though second-thought and stale humor date it . Nowadays , it is considered to be a cult movie , admired for both , its complexity and flaws . Chaplin shocked some of his enthusiasts with this strange black comedy , panned as insufficiently funny , as people found it bitter , slow-moving , sad and rare . Charles Chaplin delivers a very good acting as the seducer Verdoux who kills wives off once he gets his hands on their money . Here Chaplin provides his customary fastidious gestures to emphasis human nastiness typified by the brassy Martha Raye and other secondaries . Chaplin is well accompanied y a good support cast , though mostly unknown , such as : Mady Corell , Robert Lewis, Isabel Elsom, Marilyn Nash , William Frawley , Irving Bacon and Martha Raye who fearlessly chews up the scenary and croissants . As Raye performs the most vulgar woman ever created , chattering away with her mouth plenty croissant and laughting clean laughter .
Other films dealing with this Laundru-alike character , Henry ¨Bluebeard¨ Landru , -who was really father of various children, disposed and married 11 wives and killed them in order to feed his little family , being subsequently beheaded- , are the following ones : ¨Bluebeard¨ (1901) by George Melies ; ¨Bluebeard¨ (1944) by Edgar G. Ulmer with John Carradine and Jean Parker ; ¨Bluebeard's 10 honeymoon¨ by W.L. Wilder with George Sanders , Patricia Roc and Corinne Calvet ; ¨Bluebeard¨(1963) by Claude Chabrol with Charles Denner , Stephane Audran , Danielle Darrieux , Michele Morgan and Hildegarde Neff ; soporific remake titled ¨Bluebeard¨(1972) by Edward Dmytryck with Richard Burton, Joey Heatherton , Rachel Welch , Sybil Danning , Natahalie Delon , Virna Lisi ; and ¨¨Bluebeard¨(2009) by Catherine Breillat with Dominique Thomas and Lola Creton .
This sinister black comedy Monsieur Verdoux (1947) was well directed by Charles Chaplin , though it was not a great success and was generally disliked . It was a huge failure with critics and audiences that it almost ended Chaplin 's career , in the same way that would later be adapted again for cinema as Landru (1963) that nearly did to Claude Chabrol's career . A bomb upon release , in fact the audiences laughed nervously at such goings-on and leading Chaplin to shelve it for fifteen years ; however , today deemed to be a cult item . By now shaken and disillusioned by the antagonism shown towards him in America where he was pursued , and which seemed to want to be rid of him due to the panic waves emanating from the ¨Communist Witch Hunt¨. Chaplin previously directed 2 or 3 reel short movies, such as : Our hero, The fireman, Night at the show , The adventurer, The floorwalker, The cure , The inmigrant , The circus , Burlesque on Carmen , among others . His trademark character The Tramp appeared in about 70 movies, shorts and features, during a period of 26 years, from the one-reeler Kid auto races in Venice (1914) to his triumphant feature The Great Dictator (1940) . His performance as The Little Tramp in City Lights (1931) and a slew of other pictures is ranked #24 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time . By the time , he made long feature films such as : The gold Rush , The kid , The great dictator , Monseur Verdoux , Limelight, A king of New York and his last one : A countess from Hong Kong (1967) . After finishing this his last film , he composed the music to many of his silent movies, among them The Circus (1928) , in 1968, The Kid (1921) in 1971 and A woman of Paris (1923) in 1976 . Rating 7.5/10 . Better than average, being included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" . Well worth watching . Essential and indispensable seeing .