Compartiment tueurs (1965)

Six people travel in a railroad sleeping car from Marseilles to Paris. Upon their arrival, a woman is found dead in one of the berths. The police investigate the other five passengers, ... See full summary »

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writers:

Sébastien Japrisot (novel), Costa-Gavras (adaptation)

Stars:

Catherine Allégret, Jacques Perrin, Simone Signoret

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Allégret	...	Benjamine Bombat dite Bambi
Jacques Perrin	...	Daniel - le jeune voyageur
Simone Signoret	...	Eliane Darrès - une comédienne
Michel Piccoli	...	René Cabourg - un représentant
Pascale Roberts	...	Georgette Thomas - la première victime
Yves Montand	...	L'inspecteur Graziani dit Grazzi
Pierre Mondy	...	Le commissaire Tarquin
Claude Mann	...	L'inspecteur Jean-Lou Gabert
Charles Denner	...	Bob Vaski - l'amant de Georgette
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Éric Grandin - un amant d'Eliane
Nadine Alari	...	Madame Graziani
Monique Chaumette	...	Madame Rivolani
Maurice Chevit	...	Un inspecteur
Jacques Dynam	...	Un inspecteur
Bernadette Lafont	...	La soeur de Georgette

Storyline

Six people travel in a railroad sleeping car from Marseilles to Paris. Upon their arrival, a woman is found dead in one of the berths. The police investigate the other five passengers, suspecting that one of them committed the homicide, but the suspects are killed one by one. The last two must solve the case themselves before they become the next victims.

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Plot Keywords:

police | couchette car | sexuality | shot to death | fare dodger | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes Fear Comes as a Friend...Sometimes as an Enemy...But to the People in the Sleeping Car Fear Came as a Stranger...Unknown...Unexpected...Unstoppable!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 November 1965 (France)

Also Known As:

The Sleeping Car Murder

Filming Locations:

Studios de Saint-Maurice, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

PECF

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The beautiful brasserie where the couple are kissing is still in activity in 2017 and is situated in Montparnasse.

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Connections

Featured in Mémoires pour Simone (1986)

User Reviews

Cool French murder-mystery

Six people on a Marseilles-Paris sleeper carriage. One murder on arrival. Then a killing spree by an unknown assassin bent on wiping out all remaining passengers.

The Sleeping Car Murders is a French Hitchcockian thriller. It presents a pretty interesting puzzle to be solved, a mystery with a quite satisfying, clever resolution. In some other ways, aside from the Anglo-American Hitchcock influence it's a movie that also contains elements of the Italian giallo, what with its black gloved killer who prowls around bumping off each subsequent victim. It isn't as violent or salacious as the gialli though but it does have the sense of style associated with them. Although this one has a definite Gallic flavour with its Paris setting. It also has a very cool swinging 60's theme tune which adds to the overall chic value. Its plot is admittedly a little muddled at times and it's not always obvious who is who and what they are up to. But things do become clearer as the flick proceeds. It's certainly an interesting obscurity and should be of value for fans of post-noir. Look out too for an appearance by a young Jean-Louis Trintignant.