Etoile du Nord, L' (1982, FRA) C-124m. **½ D: Pierre Granier-Deferre. Starring Simone Signoret, Philippe Noiret, Fanny Cottencon, Julie Jézéquel, Jean Rougerie, Dominique Zardi. Oddly captivating crime drama set in the 1930s, based on the novel Le Locataire by Georges Simenon. Noiret, a luckless traveler on the way from Egypt to Europe, meets a beautiful dancer traveling with a shady businessman. She puts Noiret up with her mother Signoret, who rents rooms in their house. There, Noiret begins spinning tales about his time in Africa, until they learn that the businessman has been murdered and his money stolen. Sensitively handled drama benefits from casting of the flawless Noiret and Signoret (in one of her last roles), but ultimately this is too deliberately paced and not as rewarding as Granier-Deferre's LE CHAT (1971). Score by Philippe Sarde. English title: THE NORTH STAR.