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Had Chabrol seen 'The Unsuspected' (1947)?

posted 14 years ago by Panurg
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A couple of days ago, I saw Michael Curtiz' stylish thriller again after many years. And I found quite a number of plot layout details similar to Chabrol's "Masques", as e.g. the leading character is a frontman in broadcast entertainment, the mouldings of Rains' and Noiret's characters are almost alike, including the deliberately chosen ominous Names: Victor Grandison (which rings like grandeur, grandseigneur...) - Christian Legagneur ("gagneur" means "winner"); the young woman ward, the "intruding" and investigating young man (both under, more or less, "false" identity), the illustrious side characters, the scrap yard scene, and, last but not least, the final scene with the murderer being cornered "on air", including his "last address" to the live audience.
All these, and more, similarities cannot possibly be purely coincidental!
But none of the reviews of "Masques" that I have read so far would mention "The Unsuspected" as a highly likely source of inspiration for Chabrol layout of his thriller. It would be interesting to hear Mr. Chabrol himself on this.

[–] NickNoraCharles 12 years ago

You've hit the nail on the head on this one. Chabrol being an avid watcher of classics, he translated very well into his own time this story of manipulation and duplicity. Radio was a very powerful and influential medium, and TV would replace it later. The ending is a little less subtle though, as Chabrol often likes to turn his villains into caricatures when they get their comeuppance (I'm thinking of the villain in Inspecteur Lavardin, for example, who squeals like a pig after being stabbed).
Now I know why the plot sounded so familiar to me!