Film Review: Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)

Special kinds of films you aren’t supposed to watch on an empty stomach are those that feature good food, characters that enjoy good food and are made by people who obviously appreciate good food. Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? , a 1978 crime comedy directed by Ted Kotcheff, is one such film.

The protagonist, played by Jacqueline Bisset, is Natasha “Nat” O’Brian, a celebrated pastry chef who is brought to London by her good friend, the influential food critic Maximilian “Max” Vandeveer played by Robert Morley and given the prestigious honour of preparing the official banquet for the British queen. Soon afterwards, famous chefs in Britain, Italy and France start getting murdered in gruesome fashion, inspired by the methods of preparing their best-known dishes. Nat starts fearing that she might be next, especially after she learns that the murder victims were featured in an article in Max’s magazine and that Nat is the only one left alive. Nat gets help from her ex-husband Robert Ross played by Boris Segal , an American entrepreneur who originally arrived in Europe to start a fast-food chain and hoped that Nat might promote it.

The film is based on the best-selling novel by Nan and Ivan Lyons, which was known for its eroticism and featured real food recipes for its readers. Peter Stone, the screenwriter known for his celebrated black comedy Charade , puts more emphasis on the combination of black humour, Classic Hollywood’s “comedy of remarriage” and old-fashioned whodunnit mystery, but director Kotcheff keeps some of the eroticism of the original novel and displays his appreciation of quality food with scenes shot in top European restaurants and showing the preparation of dishes by the famous French chef Paul Bocuse. Jacqueline Bisset as the female chef is very good in her role, especially in scenes featuring top French actors like Jean-Pierre Cassel and Philippe Noiret as her character’s colleagues. Boris Segal, on the other hand, is often irritating and lacks chemistry with Bisset. The best acting performan…

RATING: 7/10 ++

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