Monsieur Verdoux - wikipedia Monsieur Verdoux Monsieur Verdoux Theatrical release poster ( 1947 ) Directed by Charlie Chaplin Produced by Charlie Chaplin Screenplay by Charlie Chaplin Story by Orson Welles Starring Charles Chaplin Martha Raye William Frawley Marilyn Nash Isobel Elsom Music by Charlie Chaplin Cinematography Roland Totheroh Curt Courant ( uncredited ) Edited by Willard Nico Distributed by United Artists ( 1947 release ) Columbia Pictures ( 1972 re-release ) Janus Films Release date April 11, 1947 ( 1947 - 04 - 11 ) Running time 124 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $323,000 ( US ) $1.5 million ( international ) Monsieur Verdoux is a 1947 black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, who plays a bigamist wife killer inspired by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, and Marilyn Nash. Contents 1 Plot 2 Main cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links Plot Henri Verdoux had been a bank teller for thirty years before being laid off. To support his wheelchair - bound wife and child, he turns to the business of marrying and murdering wealthy widows. The Couvais family becomes suspicious when Thelma Couvais withdraws all her money and disappears, only two weeks after marrying a man named `` Varnay '', whom they only know through a photograph. As Verdoux ( Chaplin ) prepares to sell Thelma Couvais 's home, the widowed Marie Grosnay ( Isobel Elsom ) visits. Verdoux sees her as another `` business '' opportunity and attempts to charm her, but she refuses. Over the following weeks, Verdoux has a flower girl ( Barbara Slater ) repeatedly send Grosnay flowers. In need of money to invest, Verdoux, as M. Floray, visits Lydia Floray ( Margaret Hoffman ) and convinces her he is her absent husband. She complains that his engineering job has kept him away too long. That night, Verdoux murders her for her money. At a dinner party with his real wife and their friend the local chemist, Verdoux asks the chemist about the drug he developed to exterminate animals painlessly. The chemist explains the formula and that he had to stop working on it after the local pharmaceutical board banned it. Verdoux says he could test the drug by using it on a tramp off the street, then laughs it off as a morbid joke. Later at his furniture office he attempts to recreate the drug. Shortly thereafter, Verdoux finds The Girl ( Marilyn Nash ) taking shelter from the rain in a doorway and takes her in. When he finds she was just released from prison and has nowhere to go, he prepares dinner for her with wine laced with his newly - developed poison. Before drinking the wine, she thanks him for his kindness, and starts to talk about her husband who died while she was in jail. After she says her husband was a helpless invalid and that made her all the more devoted to him, Verdoux says he thinks there 's cork in her wine and replaces it with a glass of unpoisoned wine. She leaves without knowing of his cynical intentions. Verdoux makes several attempts to murder Annabella Bonheur ( Martha Raye ), who believes Verdoux to be Bonheur, a sea captain who is frequently away, including by strangulation while boating, and by poisoned wine, but she is impervious, repeatedly escaping death without even realizing while, at the same time, putting Verdoux himself in danger or near death. Meanwhile, Grosnay eventually softens and relents from the continual flowers from Verdoux and invites him to her residence. He convinces her to marry him, and Grosnay 's friends hold a large public wedding to Verdoux 's disapproval. Unexpectedly, Bonheur shows up to the wedding. Panicking, Verdoux fakes a cramp to avoid being seen and eventually deserts the wedding. Before the Second World War breaks out, the European markets collapse, and Verdoux loses his assets. The Girl, now well - dressed and chic, once again finds Verdoux on the street. She invites him to an elegant dinner at a high - end restaurant as a gesture of gratitude for his actions earlier. The girl has married a man she does n't love to be well - off. Verdoux reveals that he has lost his family. At the restaurant, members of the Couvais family recognize Verdoux and attempt a pursuit. Verdoux delays them long enough to bid the unnamed girl farewell before letting himself be captured by the investigators. Verdoux is exposed and convicted of murder. When he is sentenced in the courtroom, rather than expressing remorse he takes the opportunity to say that the world encourages mass killers, and that compared to the makers of modern weapons he is but an amateur. Later, before being led from his cell to the guillotine, a journalist asks him for a story with a moral, but he answers evasively, dismissing his killing of a few, for which he has been condemned, as not worse than the killing of many in war, for which others are honored, `` Wars, conflict - it 's all business. One murder makes a villain ; millions, a hero. Numbers sanctify, my good fellow ! '' His last visitor before being taken to be executed is a priest ( Fritz Leiber ). When guards come to take him to the guillotine he is offered a cigarette, which he refuses, and a glass of rum, which he also refuses before changing his mind. He says `` I 've never tasted rum '', downs the glass, and the priest begins reciting a prayer in Latin as the guards lead him away and the film ends. Main cast Charlie Chaplin as Henri Verdoux. His aliases : Monsieur Varnay Monsieur Bonheur Monsieur Floray Martha Raye as Annabella Bonheur, who believes Verdoux to be Bonheur, a sea captain who is frequently away Isobel Elsom as Marie Grosnay, an aged widow interested in purchasing Thelma 's residence and whom Verdoux ( as Varnay ) attempts to court Helene Heigh as Yvonne, Marie 's friend Margaret Hoffman as Lydia Floray, who believes Verdoux to be Floray, an engineer who had been away from home for months Marilyn Nash as The Girl, a young woman whom Verdoux meets and attempts to poison before her views on society change his mind Barbara Slater as the florist ( flower seller ) Irving Bacon as Pierre Couvais Edwin Mills as Jean Couvais Virginia Brissac as Carlotta Couvais Almira Sessions as Lena Couvais Eula Morgan as Phoebe Couvais William Frawley as Jean La Salle Fritz Leiber as Father Fareaux Mady Correll as Mona Verdoux ( legal wife of Verdoux ) Robert Lewis as Maurice Bottello, Verdoux 's friend Production Welles ' side of the story : The initial idea for the film came when Orson Welles, developing a film of his own, was inspired to cast Chaplin as a character based on Landru ; but Chaplin backed out at the last minute, not wanting to act for another director. According to Welles, Chaplin bought the script from Welles and rewrote several major sections, including the ending and what Welles said was `` the funniest sequence in Verdoux '' ; the only specific scene to which Welles lays credit is the opening. He also acknowledges that Chaplin claims to have no memory of receiving a script from Welles, and that he believes Chaplin is telling the truth when he says this. Welles believed that a version directed by him would have been better, as he considered Chaplin a `` genius '' as an actor, but merely competent as a director ; however, Welles urgently needed money, and so signed away all rights to the script. Chaplin 's side : Orson Welles came to Chaplin 's house `` explaining he thought of doing a series of documentaries, one to be on the celebrated French murderer, Bluebeard Landru '' which he thought would be a wonderful dramatic part for Chaplin. Chaplin was interested as he said it would be a change from comedy and writing movies himself, but once Welles explained that the script had yet to be written and he wanted Chaplin to help in writing it, Chaplin backed out. A day or so later the idea struck him that the idea of Landru would make a wonderful comedy. Chaplin then telephoned Welles saying, `` Look your proposed documentary about Landru has given me an idea for a comedy. It has nothing to do with Landru, but to clear everything I am willing to pay you five thousand dollars, only because your proposition made me think of it. '' After negotiations Welles accepted on the terms that he could have screen credit, to read : ' Idea suggested by Orson Welles. ' Chaplin stated that if he had known what Welles would eventually try to make out of it, he would have insisted on no screen credit at all. Reception This was the first feature film in which Chaplin 's character bore no resemblance to his famous `` Tramp '' character ( The Great Dictator did not feature the Tramp, but his `` Jewish barber '' bore sufficient similarity ), and consequently was poorly received in America when it first premiered. However, it was more successful in Europe. The film and its dark themes were ill - suited to the American political and cultural climate of the time ( less than two years after World War II ended ). Moreover, Chaplin 's own popularity and public image had been irrevocably damaged by multiple scandals and political controversies prior to its release. Chaplin was subjected to unusually hostile treatment by the press while promoting the opening of the film, and some boycotts took place during its short run. At one press conference to promote the film, Chaplin made his speech, then invited questions from the press with the words `` Proceed with the butchering ''. On the other hand, Evelyn Waugh wrote in passionate praise of the movie, despite his loathing of Chaplin 's left - wing politics. The film was popular in France, where it had admissions of 2,605,679. Despite its poor critical and commercial performance, the film was nominated for the 1947 Academy Award for Best Writing ( Original Screenplay ). In the decades since its release, Monsieur Verdoux has become more highly regarded. References Jump up ^ `` Actress Marilyn Nash dies, Starred with Chaplin in ' Monsieur Verdoux ' ''. Variety. 2011 - 10 - 14. Retrieved 2011 - 10 - 16. Jump up ^ Balio, Tino. United Artists : The Company That Changed the Film Industry, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 pg. 54 Jump up ^ Balio, Tino ( 2009 ). United Artists : The Company Built by the Stars. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 214. ISBN 978 - 0 - 299 - 23004 - 3. Jump up ^ Bogdanovich, Peter and Orson Welles, This is Orson Welles, HarperPerennial 1992, ISBN 0 - 06 - 092439 - X Jump up ^ Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography ( Chaplin ) Jump up ^ Peary, Danny ( 1988 ). Cult Movies 3. New York : Simon & Schuster Inc. pp. 136 -- 40. ISBN 0 - 671 - 64810 - 1. Jump up ^ Flores Alvarez, Olivia ( October 9, 2008 ). `` Monsieur Verdoux : Charlie Chaplin 's post-WWII film is a comedy of murders ''. Houston Press. Retrieved December 8, 2012. Jump up ^ French box office of 1948, BoxOfficeStory.com ; accessed November 17, 2017. 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Question: who plays the title role in the 1947 film monsieur verdoux
Answer: Charlie Chaplin