A bank clerk, after 30 years of loyal work, is fired during the Depression. He has a disabled wife and child and his solution is.... to marry wealthy women, murder them, and liquidate their assets. Orson Welles came up with the idea for this most fascinating film and collaborated, somewhat, on the script with Chaplin.
Of course, being a Chaplin film, it isn't just about a Bluebeard but also about the societal conditions that led him to this life and the difference between sanctioned military murder contrasted to civilian crime.
Republican witch-hunters during the HUAC/McCarthy hearings went after Chaplin and this film specifically. It was successful in Europe but disappeared here very quickly.
It is well worth your time; it's a brutal, scathing assault that has a very dark sense of humor.
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Topic - "Monsieur Verdoux:" genius, as only Chaplin can provide. - tinear 15:18:15 02/06/09 (12)
- absolutely! - danj 14:35:44 02/07/09 (5)
- Calm down. Let's put Griffith and Dovzhenko and Eisenstein there, too. nt - tinear 17:54:55 02/07/09 (4)
- Who said they weren't? - danj 23:03:59 02/07/09 (3)
- Okay. HIghest usually means.... higher than the rest. If the "rest" are also at the..... - tinear 23:21:05 02/07/09 (2)
- You're right - danj 21:10:11 02/08/09 (1)
- :-) nt - tinear 18:08:41 02/10/09 (0)
- RE: "Monsieur Verdoux:" genius, as only Chaplin can provide. - patrickU 05:59:44 02/07/09 (4)
- Non. nt - tinear 10:57:08 02/07/09 (3)
- RE: Non. nt - patrickU 12:32:18 02/07/09 (2)
- Robert Downey Jr was amazing in Chaplin. - Harmonia 20:03:35 02/09/09 (1)
- RE: Robert Downey Jr was amazing in Chaplin. - patrickU 03:55:33 02/10/09 (0)
- Shame Chaplin wasn't in more "talkies" - grinagog 00:40:45 02/07/09 (0)