Sadly not the classic'30s capers starring Warner Oland as the philosophical Chinese detective but those of his replacement Sidney Toler after the Chan franchise had been sold off to the poverty-stricken studios of Monogram. Of the six films here, 1944's mildly diverting chess murder mystery The Chinese Cat is the best of an admittedly ropey bunch, which also includes Meeting At Midnight and The Jade Mask.
Cocteau's dissection of the decadence of youth may be an acquired taste, but in 1949 it must have been quite a shocker. Callow siblings Nicole Stéphane and Edouard Dhermithe sow emotional havoc with their quasi-incestuous games, and reap tragedy with the help of Cocteau's narrator. An atypical first film from director Jean-Pierre Melville.