Movies - Monsieur Verdoux

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	Movies - Monsieur Verdoux

Monsieur Verdoux is a film by Charles Chaplin that debuted in 1947.

Plot

The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. He has a wife and a child. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. This behavior eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.

Production

The script for this film, originally written by Orson Welles, was inspired by the case of Henri Désiré Landru. Welles sought to direct the film with Chaplin as star, but Chaplin backed out at the last minute, citing that he'd never been directed before and wasn't willing to start. Instead, Chaplin bought the script from Welles and rewrote parts of it, crediting Welles only with the idea. The film's premise is that murder is the logical extension of capitalism; the lead character kills to make money, he is hence not (in his eyes) a murderer.

Since the picture is a talking picture, there is some comedy in the dialogue as well as some physical comedy. Chaplin tended to work with a repertory company of actors who performed exclusively in Chaplin's films. Monsieur Verdoux, atypically for a Chaplin film, benefits greatly by the presence of some familiar Hollywood actors, including Martha Raye, William Frawley and Fritz Leiber, Sr..

Reception

The film does not feature Chaplin's famous Tramp character, and did not do well when it first premiered. It has since gained enough of a following to be considered a cult film; Chaplin fans are divided its quality. Its dark humour, so strikingly different from Chaplin's usual sentimentality, is perhaps better appreciated today.

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