THE CHAMPAGNE MURDERS (1967)

Chris (Anthony Perkins) is a former gigolo now married to Christine (Yvonne Furneaux), the owner of a French champagne company whose business partner, Paul Wagner (Maurice Ronet), is Chris' best friend. Jacqueline (Stéphane Audran) is Christine's mousy secretary who pops in and out of the story often enough for us to feel badly for the offhanded way she is treated. One night, Paul and Chris are out driving, with Chris basically acting as a procurer for Paul. As Paul and a prostitute make out in the car, they are set upon by thugs and Paul has to spend some time recuperating from a brain injury. Though released from the hospital, Paul suffers from depression and occasional blackouts, and is counseled to throw himself into his work. Unfortunately, things at the vineyard are stressful: Christine wants to sell out to a couple of American investors, but even though she makes the product, the brand name belongs to Paul and he refuses to sell the name, without which the deal will probably fall through. On a business trip to Hamburg, Chris and Paul wind up consorting with whores again, but the next morning, Paul wakes up with no memory of the night before and the girl he was with is found dead on a nearby riverbank. Christine gets an anonymous letter tying Paul to the murder and she decides to use this as blackmail to get Paul to sell his brand, but soon after a raucous party, Paul once again passes out only to wake up and find the dead body of his hostess near him. Feeling defeated, Paul agrees to sign over his name in exchange for Christine providing him with an alibi for that night. But wait: who's that mysterious blonde that Christopher slept with in Hamburg, and why is she back in Paris?

This mystery from French director Claude Chabrol plays out like Hitchcock in a 60s mod mood. Some critics find this disappointing as a thriller due to the ambiguous ending, but I find the climax thrilling; we get the solution to the murder, but we are left completely up in the air as to the resolution of the final conflict between characters, and I'm OK with that. Perkins gets to stretch a bit beyond Norman Bates, though not too far—the audience has to believe that he might be a least a little psycho if he's behind the murders. French star Ronet (pictured to the right of Perkins), best known for ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS and PURPLE NOON, is excellent in the central role, being on screen for almost the entire film. Busy American character actor Henry Jones (if you watched any TV in the 60s or 70s, you’ll recognize him) has a small role as one of the investors. The film looks gorgeous and has some nice stylistic flourishes. Recommended.