The Sleeping Car Murders **** (1965, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Pierre Mondy, Cathérine Allegret, Jacques Perrin, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Charles Denner, Michel Piccoli) – Classic Movie Review 12,041

Writer-director Costa-Gavras’s 1965 French mystery thriller film The Sleeping Car Murders [Compartiment Tueurs] [The Sleeping Car Murder] is based on a novel by Sébastien Japrisot, and stars Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Pierre Mondy, Cathérine Allegret, Jacques Perrin, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Charles Denner, Michel Piccoli, and Pascale Roberts.

Yves Montand (as Inspector Grazziani ‘Grazzi’), Maurice Chevit (as Inspector Moutard), Jacques Dynam (as Inspector Malec) and Philippe Rouleau (as Inspector Antoine) play the French cops who search for the culprit when a young woman is killed on the sleeping car train to Paris.

Six people travel by sleeping car train overnight from Marseilles to Paris but a young woman passenger is found dead in one of the sleeping berths when the train arrives at its destination. Inspector Grazzi (Yves Montand) leads the police team who investigate the other five passengers, suspecting one of them is the killer. Then other passengers start turning up dead so the last two must solve the case before they become the next victims.

Costa-Gavras’s auspicious début feature is an action-packed, gripping murder-investigation thriller adapted from a crime novel by Sébastien Japrisot. It is graced by excellent performances by French married superstars Montand and Signoret (as Éliane Darrès), as well as the rest of a particularly fine cast.

The Sleeping Car Murders [Compartiment Tueurs] is beautifully filmed by Costa-Gavras, with striking black and white cinematography by Jean Tournier, a polished screenplay by Costa-Gavras, and a sharp sense of urgency, danger and excitement.

Also in the cast are Claude Mann, Nadine Alari, Monique Chaumette, Maurice Chevit, Jacques Dynam, Bernadette Lafont, Tanya Lopert, Jenny Orléans, Paul Pavel, Philippe Rouleau, Serge Rousseau, and André Valmy.

The Sleeping Car Murders [Compartiment Tueurs] [The Sleeping Car Murder] is directed by Costa-Gavras, runs 95 minutes, is made by PECF, is released by Seven Arts, is written by Costa-Gavras, based on a novel by Sébastien Japrisot, is shot in black and white cinematography by Jean Tournier, is produced by Julien Derode, is scored by Michel Magne, and is designed by Rino Mondellini.

Yves Montand Charles Denner, Jacques Perrin and Jean-Louis Trintignant star again in Costa-Gavras’s film Z (1969), which was the first film nominated for both the Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.

Costa-Gavras (Konstantinos Gavras was born in Loutra Iraias, Arcadia, Greece, on 12 February 1933.

The cast are Yves Montand Inspector Grazzi, Jacques Perrin as Daniel, Catherine Allégret as Benjamine Bombat aka Bambi, Pierre Mondy as Superintendent Tarquin, Claude Mann as Jean-Lou Gabert, Jean-Louis Trintignant as Éric Grandin, Simone Signoret as Éliane Darrès, Charles Denner as Bob Vaski, Michel Piccoli as René Cabourg, Pascale Roberts as Georgette Thomas, Jacques Dynam as Inspector Malec, André Valmy as Inspector, Philippe Rouleau as Inspector Antoine, Maurice Chevit as Inspector Moutard, Nadine Alari as Mme Grazziani, Monique Chaumette as Mme Rivolani, Paul Pavel as Rivolani, Bernadette Lafont as Georgette’s sister, Christian Marin as Georgette’s brother-in-law, Serge Rousseau as train controller, Jenny Orléans as Cabourg’s sister, Claude Dauphin as Eliane’s brother, Daniel Gélin as veterinarian, Tanya Lopert as Mme Garaudy, Charles Millot as medical examiner, Albert Michel as bartender, José Artur as journalist, William Sabatier as Superintendent Tuffi, Josée Steiner as hotel Arizona employee, André Weber as drunkard, Jacqueline Staup as Bambi’s boss, Dominique Zardi as Inspector in the café, Maurice Auzel as Inspector in the café, Marcel Bozzuffi as policeman, Georges Geret as policeman, Dominique Bernard as train employee, Lionel Vitrant as inspector, Nicole Desailly as janitor, Jean Droze as police HQ man, Claude Berri as train employee, Françoise Arnoul as nurse, and Serge Marquand as Georgette’s lover.

It was restored by Lumières Numériques in 2016 from the original magnetic band and 35mm negatives under the supervision of Costa-Gavras.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,041

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