Hosts John Cribbs and Christopher Funderburg turn their attention to one of the most mysterious films from the golden age of Jean Renoir’s filmmaking career: 1932’s La Nuit du Carrefour. Despite being championed by André Bazin and described by Jean-Luc Godard as “the only great French detective film,” this film remains possibly the most obscure work produced by Renoir in the 1930’s.

Adapted from a book by the punishingly prolific Belgian crime novelist Georges Simenon, the film serves as the first cinematic depiction of the author’s wildly popular Inspector Maigret - a character who appeared in 75 novels and 28 short stories in addition to innumerable films and tv adaptations. The conversation considers the strange place of the film in Renoir’s body of work, the synergy of Simenon and Renoir’s artistic sensibilities, and how to tell who will be the villain in any given Renoir film just by looking at them.

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Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”

Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”