Monsieur Spade

Monsieur Spade
Genre	Neo-noir Crime drama Mystery Period drama
Created by	Scott Frank Tom Fontana
Based on	Sam Spade by Dashiell Hammett
Written by	Scott Frank Tom Fontana
Directed by	Scott Frank
Starring	Clive Owen
Composer	Carlos Rafael Rivera
Country of origin	United States France
Original languages	English French
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Scott Frank Tom Fontana Clive Owen Barry Levinson Teddy Schwarzman Michael Heimler Caroline Benjo Barbara Letellier Simon Arnal Carole Scotta Carlo Martinelli David Helpern
Production companies	Haut et Court TV Flitcraft The Levinson/Fontana Company Black Bear Television
Original release
Network	AMC (US) Canal+ (France)
Release	January 14 (2024-01-14) – February 18, 2024 (2024-02-18)

Monsieur Spade is a neo-noir television miniseries created by Scott Frank and Tom Fontana, and starring Clive Owen as Dashiell Hammett's fictional private detective Sam Spade.

Premise

The series was originally released in the United States by AMC Networks, which provided the following synopsis:

The year is 1963, and the legendary Detective Sam Spade is enjoying his retirement in the South of France. By contrast to his days as a private eye in San Francisco, Spade's life in Bozouls is peaceful and quiet. But the rumored return of his old adversary will change everything. Six beloved nuns have been brutally murdered at the local convent. As the town grieves, secrets emerge, and new leads are established. Spade learns that the murders are somehow connected to a mysterious child who is believed to possess great powers.

Cast

Main

• Clive Owen as Sam Spade
• Cara Bossom as Teresa
• Denis Ménochet as Chief of Police Patrice Michaud
• Louise Bourgoin as Marguerite Devereaux
• Chiara Mastroianni as Gabrielle
• Stanley Weber as Jean-Pierre Devereaux
• Matthew Beard as George Fitzsimmons
• Jonathan Zaccaï as Philippe Saint-André
• Rebecca Root as Cynthia Fitzsimmons
• Oscar Lesage as Henri Thibaut

The following actors are credited with the main cast for the episodes in which they appear:

• Dean Winters as Father Matthew
• Alfre Woodard as Virginia Dell

Recurring

• Caroline Silhol as Audrey Saint-André
• Clotilde Mollet as Helena Thibaut
• Vincent Nemeth as Doctor Pouchol

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Episode 1"	Scott Frank	Tom Fontana & Scott Frank	January 14, 2024 (2024-01-14)
In 1955, American detective Sam Spade is paid to deliver a girl named Teresa to the French town of Bozouls. Philippe, Teresa's criminal father, is blackmailing a woman named Gabrielle and others there about activities during World War II. Gabrielle eventually becomes Sam's wife. In 1963, Gabrielle has passed away and Sam has inherited her estate. He is told he will develop emphysema if he does not stop smoking. Teresa now lives at a convent. A young man, George, comes to Sam's estate and asks if he can paint landscapes there like his father did. There is a trust fund in which Teresa's dead mother Brigid put funds (from stolen property) that Teresa will get when she is 18. Brigid created the trust fund to protect the money from Philippe. Sam co-owns a club with singer Marguerite Devereaux. Jean-Pierre, her jealous husband, wants Sam to buy the other half of the club and stop seeing her. One evening, Philippe calls Sam, warning him to stay away from Teresa. Sam hears a gunshot through the phone. The following night, Teresa comes running to Sam's estate. She says that Philippe visited the convent and that he had been shot; then, a monk appeared and hit the Mother Superior. At the convent, Sam finds murdered nuns.
2	"Episode 2"	Scott Frank	Scott Frank & Tom Fontana	January 21, 2024 (2024-01-21)
Sam prepares breakfast for two, then discovers that Teresa is gone. Someone has slashed his tires. Taking another car, he comes upon George, who tells Sam that he saw Teresa looking distraught, shoes muddy, on the road. At the convent, Sam goes into the Mother Superior's office and searches for information, walking away with some folders. He later suspects that one nun's folder is missing. Sam finds Teresa in the bell tower. As they drive away, they are shot at by a man on a motorcycle. Sam chases in the car, but the shooter escapes. Chief of Police Patrice Michaud and his brother retrieve a bullet lodged in the car and conclude it is from an army rifle. Philippe's criminal file has lots of blacked out material, leading Sam to conclude he is a spy. Henri also says that Philippe was hiding an Algerian woman in his quarters. A flashback - Patrice and Mother Superior discuss awful events and killings in the past and also what to do about Philippe. Patrice wants to kill him or to have Sam take care of him. Mother Superior resists. We also learn that Jean-Pierre suffers from very serious PTSD from the horrors of his experiences in the war. Cynthia Fitzsimmons wants to see the painting her late husband did. She says that she also knows Philippe Saint-André. The discord and unhappiness between Jean-Pierre and Marguerite continues. Teresa and Sam talk. Who shot at her and Sam? Teresa tells about the shootings of the nuns. The killer wanted to know where the boy was, but the nuns did not talk and were shot one by one. Teresa saves herself by stabbing the killer with the knife she had hidden in her doll. Samir, who works for Marguerite Devereaux, finds the boy hiding in Marguerite's office.
3	"Episode 3"	Scott Frank	Tom Fontana & Scott Frank	January 28, 2024 (2024-01-28)
During a flashback, we hear a discussion between Sam and Philippe that fills in some of the back-story about Philippe's attempts to blackmail Gabrielle and about why Gabrielle wanted Philippe to disappear. Marguerite's hired man, Samir, takes the boy to his family and mates for protection. They are scared. Deportation and death? A flashback: Sam talks with Gabrielle. Maybe she is sick. Their relationship and her life do not have a long expected lifespan. Samir and friends discuss Zaid. Is he the chosen one? Is he the Mahdi? We/they must tell someone. They bring in their Imam, who tells them that the boy is extremely important. The boy, Zaid, keeps writing nonsense characters. What does it mean? A code? Does Zaid have encryption/decryption capabilities? Sam and Jean-Pierre Devereaux have a conversation. It's about Gabrielle, how she was mentally unstable after her first husband's (Jacque's) death. About who owes whom; about whether Marguerite loves Jean-Pierre; about settling accounts. Jean-Pierre says that he will not fight Sam any longer and that, if he wants Sam dead, he only had to wait for Sam to smoke himself to death. Sam tells Teresa how her father and mother got the money to fund her (Teresa's) trust fund: stolen antiques and worse. Philippe calls: Meet me in the cemetery. Sam finds his gun; looks at several passports. Sam goes to the cemetery in the dark. No one is there. He races back home, worrying about Teresa. There is someone in the house. Helena is on the floor. Sam is attacked by and struggles with someone who is trying to kill him. George Fitzsimmons and his mother Cynthia have bugged Sam's house and hear the fight. George picks up a gun and starts to go. But Cynthia stops him and says: We have been told not to interfere. But, we viewers do not know by whom. Who are their managers?
4	"Episode 4"	Scott Frank	Scott Frank & Tom Fontana	February 4, 2024 (2024-02-04)
1945: Jacques meets Gabrielle in the dark. Jacques believes they are leaving together. Gabrielle accuses Jacques of something and shoots him. One after another more than 5 or 6 people show up and each shoots Jacques. Philippe and his mother hear the shots, and apparently they know what has happened and are in on it. Everyone is in one it. Everyone shoots him: Mother Superior, the doctor, Patrice, and more. Someone in Sam's house attacks Helena, then tries to strangle Sam. Henri saves him. Sam sends Henri, Helena, and Teresa upstairs. He then brutally interrogates the attacker, who is from SDECE, the French secret service during the Algerian war. Marguerite is taken to speak with Jean-Pierre's father, who is dying. Marguerite hates him and will not forgive him for what he has done, especially to Jean-Pierre. The second SDECE man is found dead in Sam's swimming pool. He was shot in the back of the head, but Henri claims that he only winged him in the arm. Patrice warns Sam that he is not in San Francisco any more and cannot do whatever he wants. Jean-Pierre's father is dying. He gives a packet of letters (from Jean-Pierre?) to Marguerite. Samir's wife warns him about a lurker and that the boy is weird. Jean-Pierre talks with an old friend who was tortured by the FLN. Marguerite confesses that she cooperated with Jean-Pierre's father to try to get him out of the war. Jean-Pierre confesses to Marguerite about some deal with the devil. Jean-Pierre turns the boy, Zaid, over to Philippe. Sam and Patrice have lunch with George and his mother Cynthia. Sam becomes suspicious about their activities. Are they spying?
5	"Episode 5"	Scott Frank	Tom Fontana & Scott Frank	February 11, 2024 (2024-02-11)
6	"Episode 6"	Scott Frank	Scott Frank & Tom Fontana	February 18, 2024 (2024-02-18)

Production

Monsieur Spade is a co-production between AMC and Canal+. The co-creators are Scott Frank and Tom Fontana, who also wrote the scripts and served as executive producers. Additionally, Frank directed all episodes. The series was filmed in France.

Release

The series, which consists of six episodes, premiered on AMC, AMC+, Sundance TV and Acorn TV on January 14, 2024. A first look image and teaser trailer were released in September 2023.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 77% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 26 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Commanding the camera's full attention amidst the French countryside, Clive Owen makes for a mesmerizingly craggy Sam Spade even as the series around him struggles to live up to its hallowed lineage." On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

External links

• Monsieur Spade at IMDb