Why so much hype?

Powerful

One of my all time favorites.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

When Chaplin walked, the world stood and took notice of his distinct walk, when he cried, the world smiled, now in this Film Chaplin spoke some serious stuff, and the world though rejected him first, later applauded him. Monsieur Verdoux is a black comedy film that has an undercurrent satire put in a drama. As the poster rightly says, Chaplin has changed from the well known Tramp to a serial killer, who kills married widows for business. Also, his name seems to have changed from Charlie Chaplin to Charles Chaplin. He made this film in Paris unlike many of his earlier American films.This film is about how he immaculately murders and still escapes the ordeal for the better of the film is what makes it thrilling.The dialogs are those that shall be remembered long after the film is over. The lines like "Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference". "Wars, conflict - it's all business. One murder makes a villain; millions, a hero. Numbers sanctify, my good fellow!"Wow, such wonderful lines from a genius Charles Chaplin. This film is full of such surprises that I better not reveal here. It's worth the time we watch. Just leave out the prejudices you have of Chaplin and see it as a film, then I can assure you more often than not you will be enjoying it.The music without showing us anything, speaks so much. The one scene where Chaplin goes inside and the night becomes day and in the backdrop we have a loud suspenseful music scores that gives us a sense of what happened inside the room. Wow, this Chaplin was some kind of a man, and for this scene, he would have taken a cue from the great Hitchcock who does use such things. Now, the idea of the film itself was given by another genius called Orson Welles and what an idea this is, making murders as business, And how well it was interpreted by Chaplin should be taken a note. Now, of all the films we know of Chaplin, we can identify him to the Tramp so much that to make him a murderer in this seems to be a sin. Yet, Chaplin convinces us in the climax providing us not just with a reason of his act, but also a reason for the very existence of most. A 4/5 would be just apt I believe. Thanks Chaplin once again. I am happy to have seen the movie now.

I've heard some dismiss this as late Chaplin, as if there were something wrong with late Chaplin; there most certainly isn't. His career and popularity waned after "The Great Dictator" (1940), that's true, but not the genius that's responsible for some of the best films of the last century. This brings to mind another great genius whose later films are often overlooked, and who's actually responsible for bringing this film's idea to Chaplin.Originally called "The Comedy of Murders", Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947) is a delight in many forms. I agree with the sentiment that Chaplin has perhaps the strongest ensemble in his disposal in this film. The chemistry, in comedic terms, is explosive. The pacing not only of scenes but lines and individual words is impeccable. And hearing Charlie speak is, of course, a treat on its own. The way he shoots the interiors is dazzling.Perhaps it slightly drags in the middle, but that might more have to do with my subjective state of alertness, and I might disagree with myself on later viewings.I'd serve this with "La poison" (1951), a similarly sophisticated comedy.

Although Limelight is the only Chaplin film that I consider a top favourite, as a director he has a solid position in my top 10. His wisdom and wit are always wonderfully integrated into his brilliant simple storytelling. Here in Monsieur Verdoux, it's perhaps his oddest film. It's a great idea for a contradiction, who's the last person you'd expect to play a serial killer? Chaplin himself. His own face is a mask of an innocent and he's instantly a fascinating character. This might be one of the earliest cases of an anti-hero I've seen as Verdoux is very nonchalant about his immoral actions. There's an odd tone about the film. Whilst in the same style as Chaplin's previous lighter films, its script is pitch black and cynical. It's a shame that the movie plods along with a relatively slow pace and not much momentum as its moments of satire and slapstick are hilarious, if rarely as over-the-top as his Tramp outputs. This is a truly black comedy and that makes it a challenge to decipher how you feel about it. It's a film about how desperate people will reach for desperate measures and the hypocrisy in the punishment system. It critiques those in power who are nonchalant about their own immoral actions who don't face the same punishment. It's an interesting idea, but one I wish was more fleshed out. Wickedly entertaining film either way.8/10

An unemployed man supports his family by marrying and murdering rich women for their money. Chaplin made only a handful of films after the silent era and this one followed "The Great Dictator" after a seven-year gap, a period over which the great comedian seems to have lost his gift for laughs. Perhaps this was just the result of Chaplin in his autumnal years wanting to do something more substantial, but he seems unsure of whether he's doing comedy or drama. This is the first film in which Chaplin speaks English, but he hardly says anything that is funny. After a slow start, this turns out to be a decent film but it seems the premise had potential for much more humor than is mined here.