Bambi Bombal (Catherine Allegret) meets a young man, Daniel (Jacques Perrin) just before she boards a train bound from Avignon to Paris. The train is a sleeper, and the compartments have six berths. In the compartment with Bambi are Rene Cabourg (Michel Piccoli), Georgette Thomas (Pascale Roberts), Rivolani (Paul Pavel), and Eliane Darres (Simone Signoret). While heading to the restroom Bambi runs into Daniel again. Daniel tells her that he has stowed away and can’t afford a ticket. Bambi takes pity on him and tells him that there is an empty bunk in her compartment. She tells him to sneak in after everyone has gone to sleep.
The next day, Daniel gets out of the compartment early, while everyone is still asleep. When the train arrives in Paris everyone gets off, except for Georgette Thomas (Pascale Roberts). She is found dead in her berth having been strangled. Commissioner Tarquin (Pierre Mondy) assigns the case to Inspector Grazziani (Yves Montand) and his assistant, Jean-Lou Gabert (Claude Denner). Grazziani begins his investigation with the people who had occupied the compartment that night.
Meanwhile, Bambi learns that Daniel doesn’t have a place to stay in Paris. She allows him to stay with her in her apartment. They begin a relationship.
The police try to question the occupants of the train compartment as well as the family of the murdered victim. The police find out that Georgette had a lover, Bob Vaski (Charles Denner). They also learn that one of the train passengers, Cabourg, was creeping around Georgette before she died. In addition, they learn about the 6th passenger of the sleeping car, Daniel. All this information doesn’t get them all that closer to the actual killer. Their job gets more complicated when the remaining passengers of the sleeping car begin to be murdered quicker than the police can find them.
“The Sleeping Car Murder” AKA “The Sleeping Car Murders” AKA “Compartiment tueurs” was released in 1962 and was directed by Costa-Gavras. It is a French murder mystery. The film was based on the book by Sebastien Japrisot.
I found that the movie was a little baffling at times. Character names are not introduced until later so you’re not sure who is who. There are also a couple places that have flashbacks that didn’t really add anything to the film but made it easy to lose the thread of the story. The added panache sometimes makes the film a little confusing. Still, there are a lot of pluses that overcome any drawbacks. The sleekness of the production is just the beginning. The entire film is artistic. Director Costa-Gavras inserts various styles such as giallo and noir influences as well as various camera techniques that, although add flavor to the film, don’t help as far as keeping track of the story.
All this doesn’t really matter once you get to the very fast paced and extraordinary chase at the end. The ending makes any problems with the movie insignificant. It is definitely worth watching and ended up being better than expected. The main drawback is the rambling script. Other than that, the film is a winner and if you stick with it, it will be worth it.
Simone Signoret, who plays the aging actress Eliane Darres, is the mother of Catherine Allegret, who plays Bambi. She was also married to Yves Montand, who plays Inspector Grazziani.