The Crooked Castle
- Episode aired Nov 19, 1962
- 51m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
35
YOUR RATING
When a diamond merchant is murdered in a small town north of Paris, Maigret finds himself in opposition to the locals.When a diamond merchant is murdered in a small town north of Paris, Maigret finds himself in opposition to the locals.When a diamond merchant is murdered in a small town north of Paris, Maigret finds himself in opposition to the locals.
Photos
John Caesar
- Extra
- (uncredited)
Colin Clarke
- Extra
- (uncredited)
Frank Cowley
- Extra
- (uncredited)
Ivor Ellis
- Extra
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was based on Georges Simenon's 1931 novel, "La Nuit Du Carrefour", which was also the first Maigret story to be turned into a movie (in 1932).
Featured review
Maigret 'At the Crossroads' - but chooses the right path!
Saw this on Talking Pictures channel (UK - old films and TV) who are running all 4 of the original Maigret series (BBC, early 60s).
The same story was done (Night at the Crossroads?) in the much later series with Rowan Atkinson as Maigret, episodes that were 2 hours long, so moved at quite a slow pace, (albeit with good production values), and that gave extra time for diehard fans to grumble about Atkinson, who tried hard but just wasn't right in the part.
This one was more typical Maigret, Davies gradually getting into the heads of the witnesses and suspects, cracking a couple of jokes even, and then with some background info starting to work out what really happened, not what some of the 'witnesses' were telling! He especially uncovers that one central character is more worldly wise than she first appears.
I see that 'mulkern' has placed a review moaning about dialogue, some weak performances, jumps from location to studio, and 'lamentable backdrops'?! Well, this shows a total lack of appreciation of what TV looked like in the early 60s!! Of course the location film looked wildly different from studio shots, and the 'backdrops' (views of the 'outside' through doors and windows) looked like drawings and paintings, they didn't have the technology that was available many decades later!!!
By the time of this 3rd series with Davies, the acting of the ancillary characters had greatly improved, but a few did still show their stage roots (TV was then in its infancy!). That didn't really detract from this episode, which moved at a good pace to tell a fairly complex plot in the time. I don't recall the book, but the Atkinson version of this story had an element of police corruption, omitted in this one, presumably for reasons of time, and perhaps cost (one less actor to pay)?!
The same story was done (Night at the Crossroads?) in the much later series with Rowan Atkinson as Maigret, episodes that were 2 hours long, so moved at quite a slow pace, (albeit with good production values), and that gave extra time for diehard fans to grumble about Atkinson, who tried hard but just wasn't right in the part.
This one was more typical Maigret, Davies gradually getting into the heads of the witnesses and suspects, cracking a couple of jokes even, and then with some background info starting to work out what really happened, not what some of the 'witnesses' were telling! He especially uncovers that one central character is more worldly wise than she first appears.
I see that 'mulkern' has placed a review moaning about dialogue, some weak performances, jumps from location to studio, and 'lamentable backdrops'?! Well, this shows a total lack of appreciation of what TV looked like in the early 60s!! Of course the location film looked wildly different from studio shots, and the 'backdrops' (views of the 'outside' through doors and windows) looked like drawings and paintings, they didn't have the technology that was available many decades later!!!
By the time of this 3rd series with Davies, the acting of the ancillary characters had greatly improved, but a few did still show their stage roots (TV was then in its infancy!). That didn't really detract from this episode, which moved at a good pace to tell a fairly complex plot in the time. I don't recall the book, but the Atkinson version of this story had an element of police corruption, omitted in this one, presumably for reasons of time, and perhaps cost (one less actor to pay)?!
helpful•60
- Tony-Holmes
- Sep 3, 2022
Details
- Runtime51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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