Disturbing yet enthralling

A Brilliant Conflict

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Monsieur Verdoux has always been an odd number in the canon of the works of Charles Chaplin. Although many consider it one of the greatest works of perhaps the greatest film maker of all time, it was not a great success when it was first released. For one thing it features Chaplin in a role vastly different from his familiar "Little Tramp" persona. However, I think a more important reason may have been that Monsieur Verdoux was a black comedy that was released shortly after the close of the most destructive war ever fought. The world had just emerged from a great bloodbath and people were eager to forget and get on with living, and here was the world's greatest comedian coming out with a comedy about a sympathetic serial killer.I therefore think that the reason Monsieur Verdoux was not a success was simply because, even though the story was clearly set in the pre-war era, it made post-war audiences feel uneasy about themselves and the world in which they lived. Perhaps it made audiences of the day ask too many questions about the world and about themselves. In any case, the film is undoubtedly far more highly appreciated today than it was in the late 1940s. It is undoubtedly among the greatest of Chaplin's films, and makes especially good use of the considerable comedic talents of Martha Raye. If there is a fault to be found with Monsieur Verdoux it is with Chaplin's choice of Marilyn Nash to play "The Girl". Clearly the character was meant to be very important to the story since her brief appearance exerts a great influence over Verdoux. However, Nash was clearly an actress who had little to offer, and her performance in what should have been an important film debut falls flat. Chaplin discovered and showcased a number of talented young actresses in his films who went on to achieve great things, such as Paulette Goddard and Claire Bloom, but Marilyn Nash clearly did not have what it took to be one of those.

Henri Verdoux (Charles Chaplin) is a prim and proper man who kills for a living. He seduces middle age women, steals their money, kills them, and dispose of their bodies. To him it's just a way of living. He invests his money in the stock market and support his wife and son in their country home. Even in the end, he sees nothing wrong with his killings. "Wars, conflict - it's all business. One murder makes a villain; millions, a hero. Numbers sanctify, my good fellow!" This is very much about Charlie Chaplin's performance and the character. One of my favorite show is Dexter. The difference between the two is that Dexter struggles whereas Verdoux does not. Verdoux is as amoral as they come. It doesn't make for a compelling watch. Chaplin tries to inject a lot of humor in this character by portraying lot of odd behaviors and funny errors. It's cute but none of it made me laugh.Overall I do commend Chaplin for pushing the envelope by creating an unique character. It makes up for the slow pace and unfunny jokes.

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.

A satire on a serial killer is not your everyday movie fare. I can see why audiences of that day were turned off by the Little Tramp's sudden homicidal turn. Of course, it's all treated with a light comedic hand until the moralizing end. Still, Chaplin's subtext comes through clearly at certain points-, such that unemployment can drive men to extremes when they've got a family to support. On the other hand, not every man, of course, turns to fleecing rich widows and then dispatching them in cold-blooded fashion. But that brings him to his second point--- namely "numbers sanctify". Kill one person and you're a murderer; kill a thousand and you're a hero. Here it appears he's referring to the state that historically kills by the thousands in the name of the patriotism. Remember, the movie's coming right after the close of the horrific WWII, and he finds the point ironic.But Verdoux's not through. Capitalism is indirectly indicted for its periodic booms and busts that lead to joblessness, and millions upon millions for munitions manufacturers who prosper during wartime. As for the consolations of religion that come at the end, the gentleman killer appears indifferent without being insulting. Since Chaplin's the sole screenwriter, it's no stretch to believe he's speaking for himself on these matters. Given this rather wholesale indictment of many of the West's leading institutions, small wonder he left the country shortly after under a cloud of controversy.Nonetheless, the movie hits its comedic highpoints with Martha Raye as the loudly vulgar Annabella. Try as he does to do her in, she manages to comically thwart him at every turn. That scene in the fishing boat's a classic. All his polished charm and oily flattery just slide by her obnoxious silliness. Raye makes a perfect foil and an inspired piece of casting.Of course, some of the beguiling Little Tramp remains in Verdoux's character, as when he befriends the penniless girl (Nash), or in that supremely ironic moment when he ambles Tramp-style toward the guillotine. All in all, it's a strange little movie that was apparently shelved for years for obvious reasons. Nonetheless, it was rather gutsy for Chaplin to take such chances with his established character and at Cold War's outset. It's fairly humorous until you think about its serious points, which are still worth pondering.