''A Man's Neck'' (French: ''La tête d'un homme'') is a 1933 French crime film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring

Harry Baur Harry Baur (12 April 1880 – 8 April 1943) was a French actor. Initially a stage actor, Baur appeared in about 80 films between 1909 and 1942. He gave an acclaimed performance as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the biopic ''Beethoven's Gr ...

Valéry Inkijinoff Valery Ivanovich Inkizhinov (russian: Валерий Иванович Инкижинов; 25 March 1895 – 26 September 1973), known as Valéry Inkijinoff, was a Russian actor, director and acting teacher. Born to a Buryat family in Irkutsk, ...

Gaston Jacquet Gaston Émile Marius Jacquet (14 August 1883 – 28 January 1970) was a French actor. Jacquet was born in Lanas, Ardèche, France and died in 1970 in Thonex in Switzerland. Selected filmography * ''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' (1921) * ''Th ...

and

Gina Manès Gina Manès (born Blanche Moulin; 7 April 1893 – 6 September 1989) was a French film actress and a major star of French silent cinema. After an early appearance in a Louis Feuillade film, she had significant roles in films of Germaine Dulac and ...

.It is an adaptation of the 1931 novel ''

A Battle of Nerves ''A Battle of Nerves'' (French: ''La Tête d'un homme'', also known as ''A Man's Head'') is a detective novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon, featuring his character Inspector Jules Maigret. Published in 1931, it is one of the earliest of Sime ...

'' by

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...

, featuring the fictional detective

Jules Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...

. It was the third film in cinema history to feature the Maigret character. It was remade in 1950 as '' The Man on the Eiffel Tower''. The film's sets were designed by the art director Georges Wakhévitch. The French title translates literally as "A Man's Head," rather than "A Man's Neck," the American-release title. In both cases, the title alludes to execution by the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

, which was last used in 1977 in France for criminals convicted of capital crimes.

Plot

In a

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

cafe, Willy Ferrièrre (

), a gambler living beyond his means, suggests out loud that he would pay 10,000 francs for someone to kill his wealthy aunt so he can claim his inheritance. An unseen person slips him a note taking up his offer. Later, at night, a low-life criminal, Joseph Heurtin (

Alexandre Rignault Alexandre Rignault (14 February 1901 – 2 April 1985) was a French actor. He appeared in more than a hundred films between 1931 and 1985. Selected filmography External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rignault, Alexandre 1901 births 1985 deaths ...

), enters the aunt's house, tracking footprints in the dark and following a map to the aunt's bedroom, where he expects to find a cache of money. Stumbling in the dark, he comes on the woman's dead body and with bloody hands leaves his fingerprints all over. A shadowy figure emerges (later revealed to be Radek ( Vàlery Inkijinof), a Czech emigré) who assures Heurtin that he will clean up the prints and tells him to hide out. After Heurtin leaves, Radek walks out of the house and locks the door without cleaning up the crime scene. The murder case is assigned to Inspector Maigret (

), whose men follow the clues left to discover Heurtin's identity and track him to his parents' house in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

, where he has been hiding. Under arrest, Heurtin protests his innocence and tells Maigret about the other man in the aunt's house. The magistrate assigned to the case doesn't believe Heurtin's story and is ready to prosecute him, but Maigret allows the man to escape and has him followed by his men. Heurtin unknowingly leads Maigret back to the cafe where Radek, who is now blackmailing Ferrièrre, draws his attention. Suspecting that a third person is involved in the murder, Maigret has several encounters with Radek, who all but confesses to the "perfect crime," but Heurtin is able to escape from police surveillance. Though officially removed from the case for letting Heurtin escape, Maigret suspects that Radek will lead him to the person who first hired the murderer. Returning again to the cafe, Maigret sits and drinks with Ferrièrre and his mistress Edna (

). While there, Radek, who is dying of tuberculosis, confronts Willy and Edna and takes her to his apartment, while Ferrièrre does nothing. At his apartment, Radek confesses his passion for Edna, his loneliness as he is dying, and his hatred of higher-class pretenders like Ferrièrre. While Edna struggles with Radek, Maigret and his men approach the apartment, but Radek is set on by Heurtin. In the ensuing fight, Radek shoots one of Maigret's men, but he and Heurtin are both killed. Maigret leaves the building with Ferrièrre under arrest.

Cast

as Commissaire Jules Maigret *

as Radek *

as Joseph Heurtin *

as Willy Ferrière * Louis Gauthier as Le juge * Henri Échourin as Inspecteur Ménard * Marcel Bourdel as Inspecteur Janvier * Frédéric Munié as L'avocat * Armand Numès as Le directeur de la police * Charles Camus as L'hôtelier *

René Alexandre René Alexandre (22 December 1885 – 19 August 1946) was a French actor. René Alexandre was born in Reims and died in Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine in 1946. He was married to actress Gabrielle Robinne from 1912 until his death. Filmograph ...

as Le chauffeur *

as Edna Reichberg * Missia as La chanteuse des rues * Oléo as La femme de chambre *

Line Noro Line Noro (22 February 1900 – 4 November 1985) was a French stage and film actress.Hayward p.172 During the 1930s she played glamorous, often exotic, women in films such as '' Pépé le Moko''. Between 1945 and 1966 Noro was a member of the Co ...

as La fille * Damia as La femme lasse * Jérôme Goulven as Un témoin * Jane Pierson as La cuisinière * René Stern as Le gérard de l'Éden

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* *
La Tete d'un Homme
' at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man's Neck 1933 films French crime films 1933 crime films 1930s French-language films Films directed by Julien Duvivier Pathé films Maigret films French black-and-white films 1930s police procedural films 1930s French films