Le jugement de minuit (1933) - A dusty, charming French mystery

If you have a rainy Sunday afternoon and a soft spot for dusty 1930s French mysteries, Le jugement de minuit is actually a pretty fun watch. But if you cannot stand crackly old audio and actors who gesture wildly like they are still in a silent movie, you will probably turn it off after ten minutes. 🎞️

Its based on an Edgar Wallace story. That means we get lots of shadows, suspicious men in heavy coats, and a plot that relies way too much on people hiding behind curtains.

The main reason I hunted this down was to see a young Fernandel. He is not even the lead here, but every time he comes on screen with that massive, goofy grin, the whole mood changes. It is like he wandered in from a completely different, much happier movie.

The plot is about a murder and a mysterious midnight judgment. Honestly, the mystery itself gets a bit tangled up in its own feet about halfway through.

There is this one scene in a dimly lit office where a guy takes forever to light a match. It takes him three tries and you can practically hear the director sweating behind the camera.

The audio quality on the copy I watched was pretty rough. The rain outside the window sounded exactly like someone frying cheap bacon in a pan nearby.

For a different kind of moody drama from around this time, you could try Behind the Make-Up. But if you want a real masterpiece, go watch Every-Night Dreams.

This film is more of a cozy, slightly clunky museum piece. The camera barely moves, it just sits there watching people talk at each other. 🎥

A few random thoughts while watching:

• The hats in this movie are absolutely enormous. They look like they could double as umbrellas.
• One actor keeps looking directly at the camera when he gets nervous. I think his name is Jean Guilton, but I might be wrong.
• The music only plays when something "scary" happens, and it is so loud it almost blew my speakers.

It is not a masterpiece, not even close. But there is a weird charm to how seriously everyone takes the silly plot. If you find a copy with subtitles, give it a go just to see Fernandel before he became huge.