Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Speaking of Murder Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 2, 2023

Gilles Grangier's "Speaking of Murder" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only supplemental features on the release is a restored original French trailer for the film. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The crew

In the fully restored original French trailer for Speaking of Murder (Le rouge est mis) that is included on this release the narrator proudly highlights a quote from Jean Gabin about his decision to do another film with Gilles Grangier. If you blink, you are likely to miss its significance. If you are unfamiliar with Gabin’s early films, it is guaranteed that it will be meaningless to you.

Gabin and Grangier were very good friends and made a couple of outstanding crime thrillers. In them, Gabin did not always play a bad character, but he was always pulled into some sort of a bad situation. Speaking of Murder was completed in 1957, which was some years after Gabin had made a conscious decision to reinvent himself by taking on parts that would either directly confront the classic bad characters that made him a superstar in France or examine the criminal world they spend their time in from a new angle. For example, in 1955 Gabin appeared in Jean Renoir’s French Cancan and played the visionary impresario Henri Danglard who interacts with various prominent chameleons while transforming the nightclub Moulin Rouge into the hottest spot in Paris. In 1958, in one of Grangier’s best films, The Night Affair, Gabin played an aging detective whose cynical views on life are almost identical to those of the many bad characters he played decades earlier. Also in 1958, Gabin appeared in Claude Autant-Lara’s Love is My Profession as a lawyer who has his life turned upside down after he agrees to represent a stunningly beautiful robber played by Brigitte Bardot. Gabin made two films with Alain Delon in which he once again played a classic bad character, but they were quite different. Both were directed by Henri Verneuil, a master of the crime genre whose films were tremendously influential in France and across Europe. The first, a classic caper titled Any Number Can Win, came out in 1963 and is about two ex-cons who decide to do one final job that will allow them to retire in style. The second, a conventional gangster film titled The Sicilian Clan, came out in 1969 and spent plenty of time on both sides of the Atlantic. In these films, Gabin had big parts, but he was effectively overshadowed by Delon, which made a huge difference in terms of how his characters handled themselves before the camera.

Grangier’s Speaking of Murder is the last crime film Gabin made in which he played a bad character that was under the spotlight. They call him The Blond and he spends his time managing his car garage and working with a gang of professional thieves that target different banks. Even though the leader of the gang is The Gypsy (Lino Ventura), The Blond has better contacts and a solid reputation across the city that allow him to acquire valuable tips for future jobs.

The seemingly perfect relationship between The Blond and The Gypsy is compromised when the former’s reckless younger brother (Marcel Bozzuffi) becomes a target for the police while dating a single beauty (Annie Girardot) that is not right for him. After he fails to convince The Gypsy that his brother is not a walking liability that is ruining a big upcoming job, The Blond realizes that he is on a collision course with his partner. But despite knowing The Gypsy very well, The Blond misjudges him.

While not even remotely as stylish as Jacques Becker’s Touchez Pas au Grisbi, Speaking of Murder has a lot in common with it. It is because once again Gabin and Ventura complement each other extremely well and because the former is still the epitome of the classic French gangster. It really is this simple. If these two actors are removed, Speaking of Murder instantly becomes extremely easy to forget film, but Gabin’s presence does a lot more to elevate it to what it is now.

There is one particular sequence that perfectly visualizes why Gabin was able to make these types of crime films special. In it, he visits the upscale hair salon where his brother’s girlfriend works, has his nails done and convinces her to have lunch with him. In the taxi, he tells her that he is a businessman from out of town and casually reveals that he is open to having a relationship with her if she is willing to leave her boyfriend. He asks the taxi to pull over at a park so that they can walk and talk some more. He looks and sounds like the perfect middle-aged gentleman that has accidentally found his perfect girl. The moment his brother’s girlfriend takes the bait, he becomes The Blond. It is a tremendous sequence, and after it, it is impossible to question the legitimacy of The Blond.

Speaking of Murder Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Speaking of Murder arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

This film was fully restored more than a decade ago by French label Gaumont and made its high-definition debut via this release. From the three films that are included in the French Noir Collection, it is the best looking one. However, there are still some areas that could have been handled better. For example, while you will not encounter the same serious gamma issues that are present on Witness in the City, there are still inconsistencies that could have been avoided (see example in screencapture #1). These inconsistencies become easier to recognize in darker areas where the blacks are simply not always proper, but the distracting flat gray does not create serious issues. Also, there are a few spots where stability isn't optimal, though I am quite certain that the overwhelming majority of viewers will never notice that there is room for improvement. Ideally, grain should be better exposed as well, but I think that the surface of the visuals still looks good. Delineation, clarity, and depth range from good to very good. The entire film looks clean, too. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Speaking of Murder Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless audio track is excellent. The dialog is very clear, sharp, and clean. Also, stability is outstanding. Dynamic activity is very limited, even during the action footage that has a few gunshots, but this is to be expected in a film that was completed in the late 1950s. The music sound good, perhaps a bit thin, but it is how it was recorded.

Speaking of Murder Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a fully restored trailer for Speaking of Murder. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

Speaking of Murder Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The last classic big bad character Jean Gabin played was in this film directed by Gilles Grangier in 1957. While not as stylish as Jacques Becker's Touchez Pas au Grisbi, Speaking of Murder has a lot in common with it, so if you keep this in mind, you will approach it with the right expectations. More than a decade ago, French label Gaumont restored Speaking of Murder and this release introduces the same presentation of the film that was initially made available in France. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.