In Clouzot’s debut feature, Pierre Fresnay stars as a detective investigating a series of murders who disguises himself as a clergyman to locate a suspect believed to be residing in a boarding house. A comic whodunit in the vein of The Thin Man series, but with touches of black humor, Clouzot’s oddball effort provides a healthy dose of escapism from the trials of the period. Although much lighter in tone than his later works such as Les Diaboliques and Le Salaire de la peur, Clouzot’s dark wit is unmistakable in such moments as the scene in which the detective discovers working toy models of the killer made by one of the suspects.