The Man on the Eiffel Tower
Encyclopedia
The Man on the Eiffel Tower is a 1949 American mystery film
directed by Burgess Meredith
, Charles Laughton
, Irving Allen
and starring Charles Laughton
, Franchot Tone
, Meredith, and Robert Hutton
. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme (A Man's Head) by Belgian writer Georges Simenon
featuring his detective Jules Maigret.. The film was co-produced by Tone and Allen as T&A Film Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures.
The film is also known as L'homme de la tour Eiffel in France.
) is paid by Bill Kirby (Robert Hutton
) to murder his wealthy aunt. A knife grinder (Burgess Meredith
) is suspected, but Radek keeps taunting the police until they realize that he is the killer. The police and Maigret (Charles Laughton
) are led on chases through the streets and over the rooftops of Paris and finally up the girders of the Eiffel Tower.
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
directed by Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
, Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
, Irving Allen
Irving Allen
Irving Allen was a theatrical and cinematic producer and director. He won an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie Climbing the Matterhorn. In the early 1950s he formed Warwick Films with partner Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and relocated to England to leverage film making against a...
and starring Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
, Franchot Tone
Franchot Tone
Franchot Tone was an American stage, film, and television actor, star of Mutiny on the Bounty and many other films through the 1960s...
, Meredith, and Robert Hutton
Robert Hutton (actor)
-Early life:Robert Hutton was the son of a hardware merchant and was a cousin of the Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. He attended Blair Academy, a small, exclusive boarding school in Blairstown, New Jersey...
. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme (A Man's Head) by Belgian writer Georges Simenon
Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 200 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known for the creation of the fictional detective Maigret.-Early life and education:...
featuring his detective Jules Maigret.. The film was co-produced by Tone and Allen as T&A Film Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures.
The film is also known as L'homme de la tour Eiffel in France.
Plot summary
In Paris, a down and out medical student Johann Radek (Franchot ToneFranchot Tone
Franchot Tone was an American stage, film, and television actor, star of Mutiny on the Bounty and many other films through the 1960s...
) is paid by Bill Kirby (Robert Hutton
Robert Hutton
Dr Robert Hutton, was Goldsmiths’ Professor in Metallurgy at Cambridge University from 1931 to 1942 and known for his work with the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning in assisting academics to flee the Nazi regime in Germany.-Early life:Robert Salmon Hutton was the son of J.B...
) to murder his wealthy aunt. A knife grinder (Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
) is suspected, but Radek keeps taunting the police until they realize that he is the killer. The police and Maigret (Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
) are led on chases through the streets and over the rooftops of Paris and finally up the girders of the Eiffel Tower.
Cast
- Charles LaughtonCharles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
as Inspector Jules Maigret - Franchot ToneFranchot ToneFranchot Tone was an American stage, film, and television actor, star of Mutiny on the Bounty and many other films through the 1960s...
as Johann Radek - Burgess MeredithBurgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
as Joseph Heurtin - Robert HuttonRobert Hutton (actor)-Early life:Robert Hutton was the son of a hardware merchant and was a cousin of the Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. He attended Blair Academy, a small, exclusive boarding school in Blairstown, New Jersey...
as Bill Kirby - Jean WallaceJean WallaceJean Wallace was an American television and film actress.-Biography:Born Jean Walasek in Chicago to John T. Walasek and Mary A. Walasek , Wallace began her career as a model then got her first small movie role at the age of seventeen...
as Edna Wallace - Patricia RocPatricia RocPatricia Roc , born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold, was a British film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as Madonna of the Seven Moons and The Wicked Lady , though she only made one film in Hollywood, Canyon Passage...
as Helen Kirby - BelitaBelitaMaria Belita Gladys Olive Lyne Jepson-Turner , known professionally as Belita, was a British Olympic figure skater, dancer and film actress....
as Gisella Heurtin - George Thorpe as Comelieu
- William PhippsWilliam PhippsWilliam Edward "Bill" Phipps is a retired American actor and producer, perhaps best known for his roles in dozens of classic sci-fi and westerns, both film and television, from the late 1940s through the mid 1960s. From then, until his retirement in 2000, his work was mainly in...
as Janvier - William CottrellWilliam CottrellWilliam "Billy" Jensen Cottrell is a former Ph.D. candidate at the California Institute of Technology who was convicted in April 2005 of conspiracy and arson, associated with the destruction of 8 sport utility vehicles and a Hummer dealership in the name of the Earth Liberation Front...
as Moers - Chaz Chase as Waiter
- Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteWilfrid Hyde-WhiteWilfrid Hyde-White was an English character actor.-Early life and career:Wilfrid Hyde White was born at the rectory in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, the son of William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide Drought...
as Professor Grollet