60
While the story is thin, Clouzot uses his immense skills to raise the picture above the standard for the genre.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
This pungently filmed 1947 melodrama doesn't rank with Clouzot classics like "Diabolique" and "The Wages of Fear," but it's full of hard-boiled charm and has a musical score that adds extra dimensions to its impact.
90
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Brooding, beautifully made and almost impossible for Americans to see -- Quai des Orfèvres, makes a triumphant reappearance on theatrical screens after an absence of about 50 years.
100
Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow
A gorgeous flirt of a murder movie.
75
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
An excellent film noir.
90
Washington Post by Stephen Hunter
It is in fact a traditional mystery more reminiscent of Agatha Christie than the reigning film noir aesthetic of 1947. But it's fabulously entertaining.
100
A film noir? A backstage musical? A whodunit? A comedy? In truth, it's all of the above -- plus a kinky love story, an absorbing melodrama, and a mordantly jaded snapshot of postwar Paris -- and all of them are wonderful.
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold
Like all great film noir, however, the real delight of this film is in its mood and atmosphere.