Seul Dans La Nuit (1945)

A series of murders, all of the victims women, are committed in Paris. The newly promoted detective (Bernard Blier) assigned to the case is stumped. His only clue is a hit song by a popular singing idol (Jacques Pills) who has ties to the victims and a witness (Louis Salou) who insists that the pop star is the killer. Directed by Christian Stengel (ROME EXPRESS), this is one odd mystery thriller! While the premise of a popular singing star being a serial killer is somewhat amusing, it's rather ludicrous in its execution. If a pop idol were a serial killer, would he really sing his signature tune just before he murdered his victim? It would be like Elvis Presley singing Love Me Tender before he killed his victims! There are occasional doses of comedy to alleviate the tension, most notably the eccentric "witness" played by Louis Salon but he's more irritating than amusing and I was hoping he'd end up one of the killer's victims but no such luck. Jacques Pills, a popular singing star in France, gets to sing three songs which slow the action down. In spite of its distractions, I found it engaging but then again, I'm a sucker for murder mysteries. With Sophie Desmarets, Jean Davy, Jacques Morel and Marcel Andre.