Author Georges Simenon’s famous sleuth, Inspector Maigret, was never better enacted than by the shrewd, slow and sure Charles Laughton, who pursues a killer-for-hire in this superb film noir production. The nephew of a rich woman hires Johann Radek (Franchot Tone) to kill his aunt, and Maigret investigates. After dismissing a blind knife-grinder (Burgess Meredith, who also directed) as too obvious a suspect, Maigret unearths Radek, a psychopathic murderer who enjoys killing and baiting the police. Cop and killer play an intense cat-and-mouse game until one of them finally cracks under the psychological strain, with a superb chase up the Eiffel Tower as the exciting finale.