The Murderer Lives At Number 21 (1942) ***

Henri-Georges Clouzot's debut feature film The Murderer Lives At Number 21 (1942) is notable for the playfulness it exhibits, largely absent from most of the director's other films. He made other mystery/crime films that had some mischievous elements to them, but Murderer is very much comedic in tone. Numerous influences, including film noir, Hitchcock, and Agatha Christie are apparent here, but none so much as The Thin Man series (1931–1947). Glimpses of the misanthropic tendencies of Clouzot's later films are present but for the most part, Murderer is a breezy and short (84 mins) piece of fluff filmmaking from a director who would go on to make a slew of stronger films.

You can find my Henri-Georges Clouzot Feature Films Ranked list here.