Dead but Not Buried

Abstract

Abstract On April 12, 1919, Paris police arrested Henri Désiré Landru, a man who had spent the last four years of war luring women into engagements and confiscating their assets. Many of them were never seen again. Landru, charged with their murders, became an international media sensation—the inspiration for popular crime stories, including books, articles, films, television and radio programs, and theatrical performances, from his execution in 1922 to 2020. This article examines these stories for the revealing ways they bring together conceptions of war and violent crime. It considers a 1926 nonfiction account of Landru by the South African journalist and military veteran William Bolitho, the film Monsieur Verdoux (1947) written by Charlie Chaplin, Claude Chabrol's film Landru (1963), and a 2006 graphic novel by Christophe Chabouté. These narratives suggest, and this article argues, that stories about Landru—and the multiple murders he committed for profit—have served, at various times and in various places, as vehicles for critiquing warfare and the societies that embrace it.