The uncanny Georges Franju strikes again, in an Agatha Christie-like thriller imbued with his special mood, the eerie music of Maurice Jarre and some great actors including Jean-Marie Trintignant, Pierre Brasseur, Dany Saval, Marianne Koch and Pascale Audret. If mood is the key, then Franju has found an ideal setting, a beautifully preserved castle in Brittany.

Spotlight on a Murderer

Blu-ray + DVD

Arrow Academy USA

1961 / Color / 1:37 full frame (1:66 widescreen?) / 92 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / Available from Arrow Video.

Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Pascale Audret, Marianne Koch, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dany Saval, Jean Babilée,

Georges Rollin, Gérard Buhr, Maryse Martin, Serge Marquand, Philippe Leroy.

Cinematography: Marcel Fredetal

Film Editor: Gilbert Natot

Original Music: Maurice Jarre

Written by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Georges Franju, Robert Thomas

Produced by Jules Borkon

Directed by Georges Franju

Until a few years ago most U.S. fans knew of Georges Franju solely through the great...

Choreographer and dancer who created stunning roles for his wife, Zizi Jeanmaire

When Roland Petit's Les Ballets des Champs Elysées opened its first London season in 1946, the company brought to the British dance scene an explosion of chic and excitement which had long been missing. Not only was the standard of male dancing from Petit and his fellow dancer Jean Babilée better than anything for many years, the enthusiasm of the young company was a contrast to the restrained correctness of the Sadler's Wells dancers. Les Forains, a piece about a troupe of strolling entertainers, distinguished by beautiful decors and costumes by Christian Bérard, was the triumph of what the critic Richard Buckle described as "an evening of wonderful surprises".

Petit, who has died from leukaemia aged 87, was capable of tailoring a role so that it perfectly reflected the abilities of the dancer on whom it was made, often...

Idiosyncratic French film director and Cannes prizewinner

At the Cannes film festival in 1958, the jury prize was awarded to Goha, the first Tunisian film (albeit a co-production with France) to be nominated for the Palme d'Or. There were other important firsts connected with the film. Goha was the first feature directed by Jacques Baratier, who has died aged 91. It featured the 20-year-old Tunisian-born beauty Claudia Cardinale in her screen debut and starred a handsome 25-year-old Egyptian actor billed as Omar Chérif (later Sharif), in the role that launched his international career and eventually caught the attention of the producers of Lawrence of Arabia. The film's screenplay was the only one written by the celebrated Egyptian-born playwright and poet Georges Schehadé, and it featured the first screen score by the Moroccan-born composer Maurice Ohana.

Goha, based on an Arab folktale, told of a clever young man (Sharif) who, under the guise of stupidity,...