Line #36 Literature/Maigret


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bruno_cremer_maigret_542816.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Creator/BrunoCremer, who portrayed Maigret on French television from 1991 to 2005. Often considered as the definitive portrayal.]]
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4	If you are searching for a French answer to Literature/SherlockHolmes and Literature/HerculePoirot, look no further.
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6	UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}ian [[UsefulNotes/LesCopsSportif police commissioner]] Jules Maigret is Creator/GeorgesSimenon's most famous literary character, and a prime contender for the title of most famous fictional French [[GreatDetective detective]] (his author was Belgian, however).
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8	The unflappable ''bourgeois'' sleuth starred in 75 novels and 28 short stories from 1931 to 1972, calmly smoking his pipe and using his knowledge of psychology and patient routine investigation to understand the motives of the people he investigated to solve his cases. As being part of the police implies, he's not a PrivateDetective, but his methods and results easily rival the genre's biggest names.
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10	Maigret has been adapted for radio, film and television numerous times since the '30s in France and abroad including Italy, the UK and even Japan.
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12	[[foldercontrol]]
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14	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
15	* ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has Inspector Juzo Megure. The name comes from ''Tokyo Megure Keishi'', a live-action series from The70s adapting Maigret stories in Japan.
16	[[/folder]]
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18	[[folder:Film Adaptations]]
19	* ''Night at the Crossroads'' (1932, France, directed by Creator/JeanRenoir), starring Pierre Renoir (Jean's brother).
20	* ''The Yellow Dog'' (1932, France), starring Abel Tarride.
21	* The French film trilogy starring Albert Préjean:
22	** ''Signed, Picpus'' (1942)
23	** ''Cecile is Dead'' (1943)
24	** ''The Cellars of the Majestic'' (1944)
25	* ''The Man on the Eiffel Tower'' (1949, USA), starring Creator/CharlesLaughton.
26	* The French film trilogy starring Creator/JeanGabin:
27	** ''Maigret Sets a Trap'' (1958)
28	** ''Maigret and the Saint-Fiacre Case'' (1959)
29	** ''Maigret Sees Red'' (1963)
30	* ''Maigret und sein größter Fall'' (1966, West Germany), starring Heinz Rühmann.
31	* ''Maigret in Pigalle'' (1966, Italy), starring Creator/GinoCervi.
32	* ''Maigret'' (1988 TV film, UK), starring Creator/RichardHarris.[[index]]
33	* ''Film/{{Maigret\|2022}}'' (2022, France-Belgium), starring Creator/GerardDepardieu.[[/index]]
34	[[/folder]]
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36	[[folder:TV Adaptations]]
37	* ''Maigret'' (1959-1963 series, UK), starring Rupert Davies, Simenon's favourite portrayal of the character.
38	* ''The inquiries of the superintendent Maigret'' (1964-1972 series, Italy), starring Creator/GinoCervi.
39	* ''The Investigations of Commissioner Maigret'' (1967-1990 series, France), starring Jean Richard. The actor who has played the role the most.
40	* ''Tokyo Megure Keishi'' (1978 series, Japan), [[AdaptationalLocationChange set in Japan]] and starring Kinya Aikawa as [[AdaptationNameChange Juzo Megure]].
41	* ''Maigret'' (1991-2005 series, France), starring Creator/BrunoCremer. Second actor to have played the role the most, often considered as the definitive portrayal.
42	* ''Maigret'' (1992-1993 series, UK), starring Creator/MichaelGambon.[[index]]
43	* ''Series/{{Maigret\|2016}}'' (2016-2018 series, UK), starring Creator/RowanAtkinson.
44	[[/folder]]
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46	!!''Maigret'' novels and short stories provide examples of the following tropes:
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48	* TheAlcoholic: Maigret is quite the hard drinker.
49	* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: The first books are filled with this regarding Parisian police, such as Maigret working at the ''Sûreté'' yet investigating cases outside of Paris or tailing suspects alone. Director of the ''Police Judiciaire'' Xavier Guichard invited Simenon at the 36, Quai des Orfèvres in Paris for a visit in the early 1930s to help him make his subsequent novels more accurate. This led Simenon to ditch the ''Sûreté'' and use the ''Préfecture de Paris'' instead.
50	* ClearMyName: "Maigret Defends Himself" finds the Commissaire falsely accused of assault.
51	* CourtroomEpisode: "Maigret at the Coroner's" and "Maigret in Court". In the former, Maigret is a spectator to a case unfolding at the coroner's court in Arizona during an official trip to the United States. The latter begins with Maigret's involvement in the court proceedings in Paris following one of his own investigations.
52	* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Maigret smokes a pipe in direct contrast to most of the other characters' cigarette habits. If he's not smoking, he's almost invariably fiddling with his pipe in one way or another.
53	* HappilyMarried: Maigret is happily married to his wife Louise (usually referred to as Madame Maigret in the narrative). This is in stark contrast to most later PoliceProcedural protagonists who tend to be either divorced or in unhappy marriages that are falling apart.
54	* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: In most cases, the key to the solution lies not in evidence or deduction, but in Maigret's strong ability to emphasize and feel into criminals to sense their motives, find their weak spots or give them trust in him.
55	* LeadPoliceDetective: Maigret's job, though he goes investigating alone most of the time anyway.
56	* NumberTwo: Sgt. Lucas is Maigret's right-hand man. Janvier and Lapointe, also act as this at times.
57	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Judge Coméliau the Examining Magistrate. He disapproves of Maigret's unorthodox methods, and tends to make his job that much harder.
58	* OriginsEpisode: "Maigret's First Case", which recounts the first criminal investigation Maigret ever undertook as a police secretary back in 1913. The early chapters of "Maigret's Memoirs" also count as they expand on Maigret's early years in the ''Police Judiciare''.
59	* PoliceProcedural: Maigret being a police ''commissaire'' turns his investigations into this.
60	* {{Prequel}}: The 1948 novel ''La Première enquête de Maigret'' (''Maigret's First Case'') is set in 1913.
61	* PsychologicalThriller: Simenon had a keen interest in human psychology, and it shows. Maigret looking behind his suspects' motivations often makes a large part of the plot.
62	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In 1922, a man hung himself at the door handle of a church. Simenon had met the man the night before and brought the drunk person back to his home. It would inspire him to write the Maigret novel ''Le pendu de Saint-Pholien''.
63	* ReassignedToAntarctica: Maigret is transferred to the small-town Luçon for a period as punishment.
64	* SerialKillerBaiting: In "Maigret Sets A Trap" a serial killer is menacing Paris. Maigret announces that he already caught the culprit and lets several female officers pose as bait to lure the killer out. The whole operation is considered highly risky and born out of desperation. After an officer survives an encounter with the killer, the killer leaves behind key evidence that leads Maigret to him. It's fair to say that this story is the most famous one in the Maigret canon, as it has been adapted to screen multiple times, including as the first episode of ''Series/{{Maigret\|2016}}''.
65	* {{Sidekick}}: Maigret has a quartet of loyal colleagues, known as his "faithful four": [[NumberTwo right-hand man]] Lucas, [[FamilyMan devoted family man]] Janvier, the youthful Lapointe and the imposing Torrence.
66	* SignatureHeadgear: Maigret often wears a hat. In the first stories he wore a [[DashinglyDapperDerby bowler]], but then fashion changed, and he traded it for fedoras, and most adaptations followed suit.
67	* SmokingIsCool: You can't separate Maigret from his pipe. This was due to Simenon famously having one himself.
68	* VacationEpisode: Numerous examples:
69	** "The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien" (Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Germany)
70	** "A Crime in Holland" (Delfzijl, The Netherlands)
71	** "Maigret in New York" (New York, U.S.A.)
72	** "Maigret at the Coroner's" (Arizona, U.S.A.)
73	** "Maigret Travels" (Switzerland)
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75	!!Adaptations provide examples of the following tropes:
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77	* AdaptedOut: Most adaptations usually omit at least one of Maigret's "Faithful Four", usually Torrence. Sometimes they are present, but are DemotedToExtra, or become HeWhoMustNotBeSeen.
78	* ContinuityReboot: In 1990, actor Jean Richard learned that his ''Maigret'' series was discontinued when opening a newspaper. The Creator/BrunoCremer one started the next year.
79	* SettingUpdate: The book series stretched from [[TheThirties 1930s]] to the early [[TheSeventies 1970s]], and Simenon made sure fashion and technology evolved accordingly. The preferred setting in most adaptations meanwhile is clearly the [[TheFifties 1950s]]. Particularly prominent in the Bruno Cremer and Creator/RowanAtkinson series, which change the setting of early Maigret stories from the 1930s to the 1950s.
80	* ShownTheirWork: The Bruno Cremer series boasted a near perfect recreation of the 1950s in ambience, fashion, technology and the like.
81	* TruerToTheText: Out of the two major French series, the Bruno Cremer series was praised for sticking the closest to the character, whereas the Jean Richard version often [[AdaptationDeviation deviated significantly]].

Context Literature / Maigret