Pieges (1939)

After one (Catherine Farel) of her fellow taxi dancers is murdered by a serial killer she met through a newspaper ad, a young woman (Marie Dea) is recruited by the police to help trap the murderer by answering similar adverts. During the course of her undercover work, she meets and falls in love with a womanizer and nightclub owner (Maurice Chevalier). Directed by Robert Siodmark (THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE). After leaving Germany, Siodmak spent seven years (1933-1940) in France making movies before emigrating to the U.S. This thriller with some comedic aspects and some musical numbers (by Chevalier, of course) was remade by Douglas Sirk in 1947 under the title LURED. While the thought of Maurice Chevalier as a serial killer is perversely amusing, the film's blend of comedy and music scatters the necessary suspense that is needed to hold the movie together. In that respect, the Sirk remake is superior. That being said, there's still much to like in this version. Siodmak brings his particular brand of mood and suspense that would flourish in America with his noir films. With Erich von Stroheim in a nice turn as an insane fashion designer, Pierre Renoir, Jacques Varennes, Andre Brunot and Henri Bry.