Maigret Sets a Trap (French: Maigret tend un piège) is a 1958 crime film directed by Jean Delannoy and starring Jean Gabin, Annie Girardot and Olivier Hussenot. It is an adaptation of the novel Maigret Sets a Trap by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his fictional detective Jules Maigret.
It was shot at the Epinay Studios in Paris and on location around the city. The film's sets were designed by the art director René Renoux. It was the first of three Maigret films starring Gabin; followed by Maigret and the Saint-Faicre Case the following year and Maigret Sees Red in 1963.
Contents
Plot
Maigret hunts a serial killer in Paris who stabs women in the evening streets and taunts the police with their failure to catch him.
Cast
Jean Gabin as Jules Maigret
Annie Girardot as Yvonne Maurin
Olivier Hussenot as Lagrume
Jeanne Boitel as Louise Maigret
Lucienne Bogaert as Mme Veuve Adèle Maurin
Jean Debucourt as Camille Guimard
Guy Decomble as Mazet
Paulette Dubost as Mauricette Barberot
Jacques Hilling as Le médecin légiste
Hubert de Lapparent as Le juge Coméliau
Jean Desailly as Marcel Maurin
Gérard Séty as Georges "Jojo" Vacher
Lino Ventura as Inspector Torrence
André Valmy as Inspector Lucas
Nadine Basile as L'assistante de police
Critical reception
In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote, "If you haven't yet made the acquaintance of French writer Georges Simenon and his famous and fascinating Parisian detective, Inspector Maigret, you can't ask a better introduction to both...an exciting example of the author's sophisticated work and a beautifully clear and catchy portrait of the gumshoe, performed by Jean Gabin...This is a don't-miss picture for the mystery fans."