Crime au concert Mayol (1954)
Directed by Pierre Méré

Film Review

Having started out as an assistant and cinematographer to Marcel Pagnol and Jean Delannoy, Pierre Méré had a short-lived career as a director and screenwriter in the 1950s, on films that were very much of their time.  Crime au concert Mayol, the third of the four films Méré directed, is a routine murder mystery thriller of the kind that came to dominate French cinema in the 1950s, capitalising on the popularity of American films noirs that flooded into France after the war.  Crime au concert Mayol is partly let down by its banal, cliché laden plot, but it is redeemed by some inspired and surprisingly brutal scenes in its second half, scenes that would scarcely be out of place in an early Jean-Pierre Melville gangster film (such as Le Doulos).  The film is set in a Parisian music hall that, having lost its traditional clientele after the war, prospered with its risqué strip-tease performances - a suitably seedy joint for a classic film noir thriller.

Jean Tissier is the only name in the cast list that is familiar today, and the reason why the film is now almostly totally forgotten is probably because it lacks a star actor.  Judging by their solid performances in this film, Jean-Pierre Kérien and Daniel Clérice ought to have been far bigger names than they were - Kérien makes a likeably persistent police inspector and Clérice brings an ambiguous charm to his portrayal.  Some noirish lighting and camerawork helps to heighten the tension and guide the film to its dramatic climax.  Crime au concert Mayol may not be a classic of its genre, but it's a fair example of the 1950s French policier, although the endless musical cutaways featuring (mostly) semi-naked female dancers do tend to distract from the plot somewhat...

Film Synopsis

In the course of a performance at the Concert Mayol, a Parisian music hall, a dancer named Mado is poisoned.  Fortunately, the young woman is taken to hospital in time to save her life but she goes missing a short time afterwards.   The person most likely to make an attempt on her life is Grumeau, her old sugar daddy who has just broken up with her.  As Inspector Million begins his investigation there is a second murder attempt, but this one is successful.  The victim is another dancer, Lydia, shot dead in Mado's dressing room.  Suspicion soon falls on Lydia's pimp, Fred, but conveniently he has what seems to be the perfect alibi...