Panic

A woman's body is found in a district on the edge of Paris. Monsieur Hire, who speaks to nobody and is thought strange, immediately becomes the suspect. The real killer and his lover notice the neighbourhood's inclination and plan to load everything onto him. Julien Duvivier directed, from the novel by Georges Simenon. Michel Simon plays Hire, Viviane Romance the woman. The film was made just after the war and its real subject is not the murder but how a community picks out someone who is not one of them and destroys him. In a France just emerging from occupation and denunciation, that was not what audiences wanted, and it was received coldly. Duvivier left the country after that reception, and the film's worth was only granted decades later. Michel Simon defends his character without making him likeable; the man is unpleasant, difficult and innocent. The same novel was filmed again in 1989 by Patrice Leconte as Monsieur Hire. Who it is for: viewers who like noir and work about crowd psychology. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a comfortable close; the ending is merciless.