The film is about an unemployed banker,
Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining
income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been
laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and
then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two
particular widows break his normal routine. The film ends as Verdoux is being
led to the guillotine in the prison courtyard after
dismissing his killing of a few as no worse than the highly-praised killing of
large numbers in war.
The script
for this film, the idea for it given by Orson Welles, was
inspired by the case of serial killer Henri Désiré
Landru. Welles sought to direct the film with Chaplin as star, but
Chaplin backed out at the last minute, on the grounds that he'd never been
directed in a full length film before and wasn't willing to start. Instead,
Chaplin bought the script from Welles and rewrote parts of it, crediting Welles
only with the idea. The lead character kills to make money, hence he is not (in
his eyes) a murderer.
Another story
suggests that although the script had yet to be written, Welles wanted Chaplin
to play the lead role. Chaplin, deciding that he didn't want to have to write
the script with Welles, opted out, saying in effect "If it isn't written
yet, I'm not interested." After seeing the film, Welles insisted on
receiving a screen credit for the story idea.
Thanks again, Francesco
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