[Henri-Georges] Clouzot’s mercenary world of lies, greed, jealousy, and corruption offers a bleak portrait of postwar France.

| Nov 18, 2023

An intriguing film about jealousy, suspicion and police traps. I expected no less from Clouzot. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 22, 2021

The exquisite noir lighting and location work suggest a kind of realism, which Clouzot constantly subverts with near-deranged expressionist elements. To watch Blier staggering down an alley in this film is to recognize the limits of color film.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Jun 28, 2018

Watching Jouvet unravel the other characters as he begins to unravel the mystery is a brilliant lesson in minimalism.

| Apr 18, 2018

Very typical of Clouzot's films, he utilizes sound and score to enhance tension and his penchant for mystery uses the whodunit to good effect, always shifting his subjects from innocence to guilt and back.

| Original Score: B | Nov 16, 2011

The ignoble suspicions of Le Corbeau still churn under the razzmatazz surface

| Sep 25, 2009

A superior noirish thriller which gets right under the skin of the seedy world it inhabits.

| Apr 27, 2009

Clouzot is able to reveal a complex and interactive working-class world in which cops and criminals are sometimes difficult to tell apart.

| Apr 20, 2009

Direction by Henri-Georges Clouzot takes full advantage of every possible opportunity to bring out character and manages to keep the tempo at a fast clip all the time.

| Mar 26, 2009

A beautifully-made and beautifully-written film about people stuck in a place that won't let them lead anything but a crummy, second-rate life. Classical French cinema at its very best.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Oct 12, 2008

While the story is thin, Clouzot uses his immense skills to raise the picture above the standard for the genre.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 29, 2006

Jouvet's Maigret-esque cop gets all the best lines, and gives the film its human, tragic focus.

| Jun 24, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 3, 2005

A riveting noir-ish mystery that is unforgettable in just about every way.

Full Review | Original Score: 92/100 | Feb 14, 2004

One of the great film noirs. It reaches the heart.

| Original Score: A | Aug 25, 2003

one of Henri-Georges Clouzot's greatest films, an influential thriller that is also a great character study.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 27, 2003

Quai Des Orfèvres is distinguished (although a patent genre film), and my recommendation is inhibited only by knowledge of Clouzot's later efforts.

| May 27, 2003

One of the most satisfying French crime films of its era.

Full Review | May 9, 2003

Terrifically entertaining.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 18, 2003

An elegant show-biz noir that weaves an intricate web of deception and intrigue.

| Original Score: A- | Apr 17, 2003