The film is one of Charlie Chaplin's later films, with sound, about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his crazy methods of gaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows mess things up for him.
I really enjoyed this film. I enjoy anything by Charlie Chaplin, most of my favorite movies are by him. This film actually reminds me a lot of the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels(1988), Starring Steve Martin and Glenne Headly. Both of the films feature men who trick rich women in order to get money, and they are both funny movies.
This film is different than most Chaplin films because it doesn't have 'The Tramp' as the main character. Chaplin actually plays a ,somewhat, bad guy in the film. Also, the film has dialogue and sound, which was somewhat new for Chaplin, considering his first real talkie was The Great Dictator( 1940), even though he did have a small amount of dialogue in Modern Times (1936).
One of my favorite scenes from the film is the opening scene. Monsieur Verdoux is attempting to kill his newest wife so he can steal her money, but he is having a little bit of trouble. Even though Chaplin isn't playing The Tramp, he still does some of his signature expressions. It's pretty funny.
The only films by Charlie Chaplin that I've seen so far have been silent, but I've been wanting to watch one with sound for a while. Your review made me really excited to see this one, as you did a great job of making it sound hilarious. I also thought it was interesting to read the comparisons you drew between Monsieur Verdoux and Chaplin's other work. Anyway, great job with your review!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really entertaining and I feel it could relate to a big audience today, which is pretty cool being that the film was made in 1947. I haven't really explored any Chaplin films, but after reading this review, I plan on checking him out.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting find, Ali. Nice job with this. I haven't seen it, but it looks interesting. Nice job with comparisons to other films. Just keep going a bit more with some of the cinematic elements and scenes that stuck out. Nice work.
ReplyDelete