NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (June 2026): Kino have transferred three 'Jean Gabin as Inspector Maigret' films to Blu-ray; Maigret Sets a Trap / Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case and Maigret Sees Red. The first two were released by Kino on Blu-ray back in 2017 (and are both OOP - out-of-print) adding new commentaries. We reviewed the 2026 Blu-ray of Maigret Sees Red HERE and it is exactly the same (transfer, menus, extras etc.). These appears to be 4K restoration prepared by StudioCanal, delivering a clean, stable 1080P transfers of the black-and-white films. The grayscale is nicely balanced with solid contrast that brings out the glistening wet Parisian streets, neon signs, and textured interiors of the bowling alley and police offices without crushing shadow detail or blowing out highlights. Grain is natural and film-like, preserving the gritty, documentary-flavored look. Shadow detail in the nocturnal Paris sequences is well-rendered, and the image has a pleasing density. It’s a clear step up from SD and shows the care Kino put into the restoration. Similarly strong 1080P presentations for the first two films. The transfers captures the more picturesque, slightly softer rural and château interiors beautifully. Contrast is solid, and the melancholic atmosphere of the village and decaying estate comes through nicely. A few shots (particularly the main titles) are marginally softer than the rest of the film, but this appears to reflect the original elements rather than any flaw in the mastering. Frankly, the HD presentations are impressive.

NOTE: We have added 62 + 54 + 68 = 184 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original French language. Sound design remains largely conventional - clean, clear, and faithful to the era’s sound design. Dialogue remains intelligible throughout, with good dynamic range and depth in effects (guns, cars etc.). On Maigret Sets a Trap the score was by Paul Misraki (Mr. Klein, Le Doulos, Atoll K, Attack of the Robots, Bunuel's Death in the Garden, Fever Mount at El Pao, Godard's Alphaville, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Doulos, Orson Welles' Mr. Arkadin.) For Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case Jean Prodromidès' (Spirits of the Dead.) For Maigret Sees Red the score is credited to Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Impossible Object, Eve, Cleo From 5 to 7, Castle Keep, La Piscine, The Young Girls of Rochefort, America as Seen By a Frenchman, A Woman is a Woman, Ice Station Zebra,) and Francis Lemarque’s (Playtime) - the jazz-inflected score comes through with decent dynamic range for its age, adding atmospheric tension and melancholy without harshness. Ambient sounds - rain, traffic, bowling pins, and bar chatter - sit naturally in the mix, supporting the film’s location feel. Jazzy motifs accompany the zippy movement through Paris streets and the bowling alley scenes, blending cool, transatlantic rhythms with a subtle Gallic melancholy that underscores Maigret’s introspective style. The sound mix is straightforward mono, emphasizing crisp location ambience - traffic, rain, bowling pins, bar chatter - and the natural delivery of French dialogue, which drives much of the films tension through interrogation and deduction rather than action. The music elevates the who-done-it elements, giving the imported American threads a stylish, slightly exotic edge while keeping the overall tone grounded and atmospheric. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-rays.

The Kino Blu-ray set's supplements are new commentary-focused. For Maigret Sets a Trap by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson. They export an informative, engaging track that covers the production, Gabin’s performance, Delannoy’s direction, and the film’s place in the Maigret canon. Strong on historical context and comparison to the Simenon novel. For Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case the commentari is by by entertainment journalists Bryan Reesman and Mike Sargent resulting in a solid companion piece that explores the shift in tone between the two Delannoy films, the personal nature of the 1959 story, and Gabin’s evolving portrayal. Good chemistry between the speakers. For Maigret Sees Red we get a newly recorded audio commentary by film critic and author Simon Abrams (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone,) who places the film in the context of Gabin’s Maigret trilogy, Simenon’s literary world, and the evolution of French policier cinema in the early 1960s. The theatrical trailers have non-removable subtitles. The set is packaged in a standard Blu-ray case housed inside a handsome slipcase with a limited-edition O-card.

Maigret Sets a Trap (1958) and Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case (1959) are the two films that form the first endeavors of Jean Gabin’s celebrated trilogy as Inspector Jules Maigret. Both are directed by Jean Delannoy and adapted from Georges Simenon novels. They represent a strong, cohesive pair that showcases the range of both the character and Delannoy’s classical approach to crime drama in late-1950s French cinema. While sharing key creative personnel - including cinematographer Louis Page (Speaking of Murder, camera operator on Port of Shadows) and contributions from writer Michel Audiard (The Professional, Greed in the Sun, Taxi for Tobruk, Hi-Jack Highway) - the films diverge significantly in tone, setting, structure, and visual style - one a tense urban police procedural with noir atmosphere and serial-killer suspense, the other a more intimate, melancholic, and “cozy” mystery rooted in personal history and provincial decay. Gilles Grangier's Maigret Sees Red represents Jean Gabin's final cinematic outing as Georges Simenon's iconic Parisian police commissioner Jules Maigret, following his earlier performances in Maigret Sets a Trap (1958) and Maigret and the Saint-Fiacre Affair (1959.) Adapted from Simenon's 1951 novel Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters (with screenplay contributions from Grangier and Jacques Robert), the 87-minute black-and-white French-Italian co-production transplants Maigret's methodical, introspective detective style into a transatlantic gangster thriller. The trail leads to a lively bowling alley frequented by expat Americans, where the enigmatic femme fatale Lily (Françoise Fabian) works, blending underworld intrigue with procedural legwork. At their core, the films embody the classic Simenon-Maigret ethos: crime as a human puzzle rooted in psychology, environment, and quiet observation rather than flashy action or forensic gimmicks. Maigret operates with his trademark pipe-smoking calm, world-weary wisdom, and intuitive understanding of people, preferring to let suspects and witnesses reveal themselves through conversation and atmosphere. Gabin, then in his late 50s, delivers a commanding yet understated performances that feels lived-in and authoritative - his Maigret is less a brilliant showman and more a seasoned bureaucrat with deep empathy and stubborn persistence. Overall, these Maigret entries succeed as valedictory vehicles for Gabin's Maigret, offering brisk, character-driven neo-noirs that prioritizes psychological insight and Parisian authenticity over spectacle. All the film's employ Maigret’s intuitive, empathetic methods. Kino’s StudioCanal-sourced Blu-ray are solid, straightforward releases that bring these delightful Maigret films to North American audiences in very strong quality. Fans of classic French crime cinema and Jean Gabin (Port of Shadows, Hi-Jack Highway, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi, French Cancan, Razzia sur la chnouf, Speaking of Murder aka Le rouge est mis, La Grande Illusion, La bête humaine, Le Jour Se Leve,) will appreciate having these atmospheric, character-driven detective thrillers in their library. We give a very strong recommendation. These are great films.

Gary Tooze