The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949)

In Paris, a down and out medical student Johann Radek (Franchot Tone) is paid by Bill Kirby (Robert Hutton) to murder his wealthy aunt. A knife grinder (Burgess Meredith) is suspected, but ... See full summary »

Director:

Burgess Meredith

Writers:

Harry Brown (screenplay), Georges Simenon (novel)

Stars:

Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Burgess Meredith

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Laughton	...	Inspector Jules Maigret
Franchot Tone	...	Johann Radek
Burgess Meredith	...	Joseph Heurtin
Robert Hutton	...	Bill Kirby
Jean Wallace	...	Edna Wallace
Patricia Roc	...	Helen Kirby
Belita	...	Gisella Heurtin
George Thorpe	...	Comelieu
William Phipps	...	Janvier
William Cottrell	...	Moers
Chaz Chase	...	Waiter
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Professor Grollet

Storyline

In Paris, a down and out medical student Johann Radek (Franchot Tone) is paid by Bill Kirby (Robert Hutton) to murder his wealthy aunt. A knife grinder (Burgess Meredith) is suspected, but Radek keeps taunting the police until they realize that he is the killer. The police and Maigret (Charles Laughton) are led on chases through the streets and over the rooftops of Paris and finally up the girders of the Eiffel Tower.

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Plot Keywords:

maigret | paris france | eiffel tower paris | remake | foreign language adaptation | 

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Taglines:

PARIS...GAY, ALLURING...MASKING A STRANGE ADVENTURE!

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English French

Release Date:

12 December 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Mann vom Eiffelturm

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&T Film Production (Allen-Tone), Gray-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 87 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor) Color (Anscocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There were various production problems on this picture, including Charles Laughton's threatening to walk off the picture if the original director, Irving Allen (who was also one of the film's producers) wasn't replaced (star Burgess Meredith eventually replaced him as director). Allen himself was very dissatisfied with the final results. After its initial run, he bought the film rights back from RKO and kept the prints out of circulation for a long time. Many believed that the film was lost, even Meredith. However, it has been released on VHS and DVD and can be relatively easily found at rental stores.

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Goofs

When Maigret is reading the 'Letter to the Editor' about the escape, the position of his hands on the newspaper change between shots.

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Quotes

Inspector Jules Maigret: [to Johann Radek] By the way - there's one thing I'd like to know. Am I following you, or are you following me?

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, the "City of Paris" is given fifth billing as a star of the film.

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Connections

Remake of La tête d'un homme (1933)

User Reviews

Nearly a classic

This clever suspenser from the French Maigret novels is undone by first-time director Meredith. The plot revolves around the murder of a wealthy woman and her maid one dark Parisian night. A dandy living off his aunt wishes her dead in public and catches the ear of Radek, a desperate fellow who is very clever but also a bit loopy (cast Gary Oldman in the remake).

Radek engineers a fiendish scheme to implicate a simple tinker in the crime, collect his fee, and lead Inspector Maigret down the garden path. The details are delicious--if you can follow them--and the characters (the dandy, his wife, his mistress, the tinker and his wife, the inspector and his detectives, and the arrogant killer) are interesting enough for three movies. But Meredith allows the plot to get muddy and doesn't really pull the best performances out of his actors (including himself).

Radek's manipulation of the other characters is real genius (for example, he gets others to search for the murder weapon while the cops are tailing him). The Parisian setting is terrific, and the spectacular climax atop the Eiffel Tower is not to be missed, altho it's a bit contrived. The result is a decent film, but Hitchcock would have hit this one out of the park.

Note: The version I saw was from the 50 Mystery Classics DVD set. It's in color, but very faded. However, I actually found its desaturated look to be a pleasant medium between full color and black and white.