Very good movie....EXTREAMLY poor transfer. BEWARE
T. Avallone | St Charles IL | 09/24/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"With this being a very difficult movie to get a hold of, I was thrilled it was getting a DVD release. Now I know why the price tag is so low on it.I have seen better transfers of films from UHF TV stations in the middle of the night. It is grainy beyond belief, with a scratchy distorted soundtrack, and has so many splices in parts it makes it laughable. (remember those BBC 'Benny Hill' sketches with "Cheapo Films" when the splices in the film distorted the scene you were viewing ? This is what we are talking about here, folks....) Making matters worse, the colors are so badly faded it resembles a black & white film. Night sequences turn blue, skin tones turn yellow, whites turn light tan/bone....you get the point.GOTHAM DISTRIBUTION should be ashamed of themselves for ever allowing a product this poor to be released to the general public. I realize they think a $7-8 price tag is reasonable enough...I, personally, wouldn't pay more than 99 cents. Its barely worth that alone. I will never purchase anything by GOTHAM Distribution again. What a joke !This gem of a movie deserves better fate."
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
R.East | Boston,USA | 09/21/2004
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this in VCR @ around $6. The tape is god afull! I have reordered it in VCR @14.99 & hopefully the picture will not blank out every few seconds. As for the DVD, I read the review on it, & it appears this title needs a reissue by someone with a mint copy from the Studio. My $6 copy was from Alpha Video Distributorsin NJ. They ought to be ashamed of releasing such a lousy copy for sale at any price. This is not worth a wooden nickle."
A FINE FILM NOIR.
scotsladdie | 11/11/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Simenon's seminal sleuth, Maigret, was never better enacted than by the shrewd, slow and sure Charles Laughton who is after a thrill-killer-for-hire Franchot Tone. Tone's portrait of a psychopathic murderer, who enjoys killing because it feeds his warped ego is fascinating. When the nephew of a rich woman hires Tone to kill his aunt and Laughton investigates. A very clever game of cat-and-mouse ensues. The acting is truly outstanding in this film: Tone actually and triumphantly overcomes Laughton's masterful mannerisms in their scenes together. The viewer is treated to a majestic Paris while we slowly engage in the thrilling story and the superb chase on the Eiffel Tower is uniquely exciting. Burgess Merideth (!) was the director, and he did an admirable job. The music score by Michel Michelet is exeptional."
Disappointing crime thriller
Cory D. Slipman | Rockville Centre, N.Y. | 12/27/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
""The Man on the Eiffel Tower", one of two films directed by superb actor Burgess Meredith who also starred in it, considering the accomplished cast was a colossal failure. Not only was the film transfer awful, but the sophomoric, disjointed plot was only saved by the footage shot around Paris.
Impatient heir Bill Kirby played by Robert Hutton wishes his rich aunt dead so he can inherit the funds to dump his wife to be with his mistress. His conversation is overheard by ham actor Franchot Tone playing boisterous, psychopathic and penniless medical student Johann Radek. Tone conspires to murder the aunt and poor knife grinder Joseph Heurtin who is also a part time bungling burglar stumbles into the murder scene and gets implicated.
The esteemed Charles Laughton's talents are wasted in his role as police Inspector Maigret who is taunted by Tone as he conducts his investigation into the murder. The tepid drama concludes with a chase scene on the steel girders of the Eiffel Tower, which was the highlight of a mostly poor effort."