Cecile Is Dead

EUREKA! have released Maurice Tourneur's 1944 Cecile Is Dead (Cécile Est Morte) on Blu-ray. It is an adaptation of Georges Simenon's detective novel. The iconic French detective Maigret (Albert Préjean) investigates a series of murders including that of Cecile (Santa Relli) after she is found dead in the closet of a police station.

Cecile Is Dead is the second Maigret film to be made by the Nazi-operated Continental Films, Picpus being the first. It was also the final film to be released by the company. One more, also a Maigret, Majestic Hotel Cellars (Les Caves Du Majestic), again starring Albert Préjean, was made but not released until 1945, after the liberation of Paris and the dissolution of the company.

The cleaned-up version of the film (2019, Centre National Du Cinéma Et De L'Image Animée) on the Blu-ray does justice to the cinematography of Maurice Tourneur and Pierre Montazel. The deep, crisp depth of field used in the interiors shots is where it is really noticeable.

There are three special features on the disc.

Firstly, an audio commentary by Sergio Angelini, an expert in crime cinema and host of the podcast Tipping My Fedora. He provides a lot of interesting information on the film and production company. There are a number of apologetic takes on Continental Films and the people who worked for them. His is that many of the people who worked with the Nazi-backed company were essentially coerced into doing so. Work for Continental Films in Paris or as slave labour in Nazi Germany: it isn't much of a choice.

Secondly, there is an introduction by Christine Leteux, writer of Maurice Tourneur: Réalisateur Sans Frontières.

And finally, My Friend Maigret by film historian Martin Hall, a lover of all things Maigret. It covers this film in the context of the overall body of work, from novels to adaptations.

Reviewed on: 21 May 2026