User Reviews

Saw this on Talking Pictures channel (UK TV - old films & TV shows). It was faithful to the book, and indeed so were the Rupert Davies version (BBC - early 60s), and the Gambon one (ITV, 90s).

This story takes a while to unravel, so the Davies version had to be rather rushed, that show was only an hour, needing a few bits of plot to be discovered and explained to us. Gambon & Cremer though plodded slowly about, making witnesses uncomfortable, and using little tricks to discover a few secrets they'd like to hide.

The action takes place in the Hotel Majestic, where by great coincidence (!) the former lover of a humble hotel worker has come to stay, with her extremely rich American husband and their child (or is it?). Slowly the plot unfolds, and eventually is shown to revolve around a complex tale of blackmail, and forgeries.

The examining magistrate takes a big hand, convinced the hotel worker - who'd discovered the woman's body in the kitchens, soon after 6am, is guilty. Maigret is far from convinced, has studied him carefully, and doesn't think he would have committed murder, and in fact wasn't even there (finding verification of a bike puncture as he came to work, making him late).

As the final details are revealed, Maigret shows his human side, slipping an ancient prostitute a small packet of dope to help her on her addled way, and helping the boy#s real father to gain access. Splendid acting throughout, and a rare appearance from Lucas, his normal RH man in all the books, though little seen in this series.

Oh, the blemish? Well, the main suspect has a birthmark, and so does the son. I've never heard of birthmarks being passed down the family line? From memory, the other versions dropped this clue by using hair colour, which seems far more believable??

This 1992 episode of Maigret was directed by Claude Goretta, an accomplished director who, in 1977, wrote and directed "The Lacemaker", which was one of Isabelle Huppert's first international hits. (a terrific movie and performance worth seeking out, if you have not seen it)

Here, 15 years later, Goretta is giving his "eye" to this excellent adaptation of the Maigret classic, "Maigret at the Hotel Majestic".

Having read the original short novel so many years ago, I can't really speak to its adherence to the original source. But I can comment on Goretta's directing.

The opening scene, in the basement of the 5 Star Parisian Hotel--the Majestic, is superbly realized. Few of us will likely ever be stay in a 5 Star Parisian hotel. And even fewer of us will ever have a chance to visit a 5 Star Hotel's basement kitchen area during the frenzied hours of breakfast. But what we witness here for a good 10 minutes feels completely authentic.

Contrast that with the later scene when, after a long overnight train ride, Maigret arrives at breakfast hour of a 3 or 2 Star hotel in a small French town, a hotel where a suspect used to work years earlier. This scene will likely feel familiar to many, and again feels completely authentic.

As with all the Maigret stories I have watched here so far, the characters are all very well drawn and depicted.

The main suspect, Prosper, is especially well captured, acting suspicious one moment, and sympathetic the next--but always someone for whom life and luck seem to have passed by.

The American industrialist, Michael Clark, by contrast, the husband of the murder victim, is early on portrayed as arrogant and entitled--a stereotype of the "Ugly American". Later his character becomes more sympathetic. In both cases the character is well played by Terence Ford.

The plot is especially complex and convoluted. for a Maigret story The pleasure of a Maigret story is often more the character study than in the actual mystery of why someone was murdered. But here, the diverse characters and the mystery of who killed the victim are equally captivating.