Maigret Tend Un Piege (aka Maigret Sets A Trap) (1958)

A serial killer has killed four women so far in a particular section of Paris. With no suspects in sight, Inspector Maigret (Jean Gabin) concocts an elaborate plan to ferret out the killer. Based on the novel by Georges Simenon and directed by Jean Delannoy. It's a nifty police thriller with a rather complicated plot. Halfway through the film, it becomes pretty clear who the serial killer is and most of the film's last quarter is the constant grilling to get the murderer to confess. But there's more background information that isn't revealed until the very end. The film isn't particularly favorable to women as two of the important females in the narrative are monsters themselves. The overload of psychological verbiage almost makes one wish for the simplification of the psychiatrist's trite explanation at the end of Hitchcock's PSYCHO. But for mystery fans, it's pure nectar. Gabin's weary Maigret fits him like a comfortable slipper and the film would be less with any other actor in the part. There's an excellent score by Paul Misraki. With Annie Girardot, Jean Desailly, Lucienne Bogaert, Lino Ventura, Olivier Hussenot and Gerard Sety.