A severed head in a subway package? French noir gets weird fast.
When he finds a package in the metro, given this period of restrictions, Mr. Truche thinks it may be a good deal, he takes it home but discovers a woman's head inside. A friend of Mr. Truche having just disappeared, the superintendent accuses her of having murdered her and discovers the head buried in his cellar. But the girlfriend, whom Mr. Truche loves platonically, returns from the countryside and at the same time we spot the assassin of the unknown woman.
Acting
Jules Berry's sweaty panic is pure French character actor gold
Production
1950 austerity filmmaking: one head, maximum melodrama
Director
Maurice Cam
Jules Berry
Frédéric Octave Pancrace Truche
Denise Grey
Isabelle Truche
Marcel André
Inspector Paulot
Pauline Carton
Madame Crépin, Claire's concierge
Jeanne Fusier-Gir
Mélanie, the maid
Marcelle Géniat
Claire's grandmother
René Génin
The gravedigger
Marcel Mouloudji
Bernard
Michèle Philippe
Claire Fontanier
Louis Seigner
Maître Canard
Jean Tissier
The inmate who shows how to fake madness
Henri Vilbert
Inspector Lambert
Raymond Cordy
Brigadier Chapuis
Charles Dechamps
The investigating judge
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during France's post-war rationing period, the 'restrictions' mentioned aren't just plot— they're lived reality bleeding into absurdist crime.
Maurice Cam mostly directed B-pictures; this 3.0 TMDB rating from one voter suggests almost nobody's seen it. You're in elite company.
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