During the cold weekend, Darling Hubby and I watched Monsieur Spade, a great miniseries created by Scott Frank and Tom Fontana.
It was intelligent, compelling, and had a whimsical touch one might say because it was the story of what happened to Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett's fictional private detective in The Maltese Falcon.
Frankly, we both loved it and plan to watch it again.
Originally, this was an AMC series that didn't fare very well with the audience. As is my habit, I read reviews after watching the series. The most frequent negative comment I read was: "Why is there so much French talking in it?"
Duh. It's set in France. I found the dialogue in French was a seamless and logical transition.
BLURB
The story opens when Sam Spade travels to a small village in the south of France to deliver an orphaned girl to her grandmother. Immediately, nothing turns out as he expected. In fact, nothing is predictable throughout the series which interweaves Spade's past with the secrets of the residents of the village.
After all, the era in which the story is set is less than 20 years after the end of WW2 and at the end of the French-Algerian War.
Spade who married the love of his life had settled in the village, but his marital bliss was short-lived. Still, he's content with his quiet, peaceful life until 6 nuns at the local convent are brutally murdered. The rest of the story is one you must see for yourself, and the mysteries pile up as the bodies keep dropping.
I hope there will be a second season for Monsieur Spade because it's rare to find such intelligent fare. Even better, there are no over the top action sequences and/or super hero/humans.
THE SUPERB CAST
You may not recognize the French actors in this series if you don't watch a lot of French movies or series, but they are as excellent as Clive Owen who portrays Sam Spade.
Cara Bossom as Teresa, Denis Ménochet as Chief of Police Patrice Michaud, Louise Bourgoin as Marguerite Devereaux, Chiara Mastroianni as Gabrielle, Stanley Weber as Jean-Pierre Devereaux, Matthew Beard as George Fitzsimmons, Jonathan Zaccaï as Philippe Saint-André, Rebecca Root as Cynthia Fitzsimmons, Oscar Lesage as Henri Thibaut, Dean Winters as Father Matthew, Alfre Woodard as Virginia Dell, Caroline Silhol as Audrey Saint-André, Clotilde Mollet as Helena Thibaut, and Vincent Nemeth as Doctor Pouchol.
A special shout-out to Dean Winters and Alfre Woodard, two actors who are always—dare I say—perfect in every role they undertake.
TAKEAWAY TRUTH
Monsieur Spade streams on Netflix and 6 or 8 other streaming services so check the service to which you subscribe. You might get lucky.
