Fausse note is a colour 95-minute mystery TV movie produced by ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) and aired by its Deuxième chaîne on August 1, 1974.
It's also one of four very peculiar episodes of the detective series Les Cinq Dernières Minutes (1958-1996).
Created by journalist, director, scriptwriter and producer Claude Loursais, Les Cinq Dernières Minutes is one of the first series in the History of French television. It was launched on January 1, 1958 on the only channel of RTF (Radiodiffusion Télévision Française), the predecessor of ORTF. Les Cinq Dernières Minutes went through many changes in three "eras" until France 2 shown its 149th episode on December 20, 1996. The first era (1958-1973) was penned by Loursais — who directed most of its episodes — with Fred Kassak, Louis C. Thomas, Michel Lebrun, Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe, Henri Grangé, André Maheux, Jean Cosmos, etc. This version starred Raymond Souplex as Inspecteur/Commissaire Antoine Bourrel and Jean Daurand as Inspecteur Dupuy. Pierre Collet played Brigadier Coulomb.
Les Cinq Dernières Minutes began as a mystery gameshow aired live. Two selected viewers watched a whodunit, then Inspecteur Bourrel
asked them the solution and how to prove it with the possibility to
watch again two scenes. Les Cinq Dernières Minutes dropped live broadcasting and the game format to explore different socio-professional environments in episodes shot in studio on video and on 16mm film for the locations. The popularity of the programme peaked in the 1960s-1970s and turned Raymond Souplex and Jean Daurand into TV stars. Bourrel's catchphrase (« Bon Dieu, mais c'est bien sûr! ») entered the vernacular. The series was even adapted in Germany (Dem Täter auf der Spur, 1967-1973). Les Cinq Dernières Minutes switched from black and white to colour in 1971 and Dupuy was gradually phased out after Jean Daurand's health issues.
In September 1972, Raymond Souplex worked on the 56th episode, Un gros pépin dans le chasselas. The shooting was interrupted by the ORTF rolling strikes of October but the scenarios of two episodes, Les griffes de la colombe (Episode 57) and Fausse note, were ready (1) so the actor rehearsed the former on November 20. He died two days later from cancer, aged 71. Claude Loursais decided that Episode 56, completed thanks to script changes and editing, would be the final one (2). Nevertheless, four TV movies were tested between July 1974 and January 1975 (not in production order) on the Deuxième chaîne and Antenne 2: Rouges sont les vendanges, Fausse note, Si ce n'est toi (formerly Les griffes de la colombe) and Le Coup de pouce. Those films, independent from Les Cinq Dernières Minutes though built on its "formula", introduced new detectives and the famous theme music by Marc Lanjean (3) was notably absent.
Helmed by Claude Loursais, Fausse note was penned by Louis C. Thomas and Michel Lebrun. Like Si ce n'est toi it was written for Bourrel, so both scripts had to be revised. Gilbert Gauthier, a flamboyant musician and composer, is shot dead in his soundproof appartment. Oddly, the murder was caught by Gauthier's tape recorder. Officier de police principal Ménardeau investigates. The excellent Marc Eyraud is back as the Columbo-esque Ménardeau after the first appearance of his character as the sidekick of the main detective in Si ce n'est toi. His religious beliefs, no longer mentioned, are replaced by a cynical sense of humour. The good plot is enriched by the presence of real musicians amongst the cast, starting with Jamaican jazz trumpeter Sonny Grey as Aristote. Accordeonist and trombonist Charles Verstraete has an uncredited cameo in a flashback scene. Violonist Gérard Jarry talks with Ménardeau.
Clarinetist Julien Froment is played by the legendary French actor, singer and musician Guy Marchand. He worked for the greatest film directors and his resume includes the main role in the crime drama Nestor Burma (1991-2003), based on the novels by Léo Malet. Alain Mottet (Vidocq) delivers a superb performance as Igor Cléry. Henri-Jacques Huet, a familiar of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes in different roles, returns and this time he's the victim. Jean-François Rémi, of the Comédie-Française, plays Richard Barnett. He was one of the regulars of the ORTF sci-fi series Aux frontières du possible (1971-1974). Popular supporting actress Florence Blot (Un curé de choc) shares a great scene with Marc Eyraud/Ménardeau as "La concierge". Also with Laurence Vincendon (Sophie Cléry), Gilles Guillot (Sound engineer), Jeanne Herviale (Madeleine), Claude Bertrand (Thoreau), Nono Zammit (Doudou), etc.
Produced by Pierre Monzat and Michelle Piétri. Music by composer, conductor and pianist Jean-Claude Pelletier. Cinematography by Michel Carré. Video editing by Christiane Coutel. Film editing by Roger Taconnat. After Fausse note, Ménardeau became the deputy of Commissaire Le Carré (Christian Barbier) in Rouges sont les vendanges. The four TV movies are retrospectively considered as "La période intermédiaire" of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes. In 1974, Jacques Debary (Poker d'as) was announced as the unnamed commissaire of Loursais' new (as yet untitled) mystery drama and that the shooting of its first episode had begun. This episode, called Le lièvre blanc aux oreilles noires, was aired by Antenne 2 on May 19, 1975 as part of... Les Cinq Dernières Minutes. Commissaire Broussard (Jacques Debary) had to be renamed Cabrol
because there was a real-life supercop named Broussard. Marc Eyraud
came back again as Ménardeau in the following episode for an association with Cabrol which lasted until 1991.
Pierre Santini (Un juge, un flic) as Commissaire Julien Massard and Pierre Hoden (Inspecteur Antoine Barrier) were the final duo of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes from 1992 to 1996. Perrette Souplex, the daughter of Raymond Souplex, guest starred as Bourrel's daughter in a 1995 episode. The episodes of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes from 1958 to 1991 are available on Madelen, the streaming service of INA.
(1) Michel Lebrun in Télé 7 Jours N°744 (July 27, 1974).
(2) Télé 7 Jours N°667 (February 3, 1973).
(3) Arsenic Blues, composed by Marc Lanjean for the movie La Peau de l'ours (1957).
See also:
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