Northwest Film Forum

Anyone who accuses Charlie Chaplin of too much sentimentality clearly hasn't seen MONSIEUR VERDOUX, arguably the crown jewel in the Chaplin canon. Years ahead of its time, this "comedy of murders" is Chaplin’s most audacious and atypical film and remains one of his most underappreciated. James Agee took three columns to write about it, even though it had already left theaters by the time the third column was published. Jonathan Rosenbaum named it "one of the greatest American films of all time" and railed when the AFI left it off their "Greatest Comedies" ballot. Luminaries such as critic Lotte Eisner and filmmakers Federico Fellini, Jacques Rivette and Luchino Visconti have named it one of the ten best films of all time. Orson Welles had wanted to write the script and direct Chaplin in the film, but Chaplin decided that it was too late for him to start acting for other directors. He did his own version, crediting Welles with the "story suggestion." Chaplin plays Henri Verdoux, a bigamist and serial killer who makes his living by marrying and murdering rich widows under assumed names. Chaplin softened the character and made him palatable to audiences by making him a lifelong bank worker who was laid off in middle age, too late to start over.