Monsieur Spade : Croque Monsieur (French Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwich) 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁
/Year Released: 2024
Directed by: Scott Frank
Starring: Clive Owen, Cara Bossom, Chiara Mastroianni
(TV MA, 6 episodes approximately 1 hour each)
Genre: Crime, Hard Boiled Detective Drama
“I couldn’t tell you what sort of man I am other than I keep my promises, particularly when I’m paid to. “ –Sam Spade
Sam Sade living out his golden years in the South of France. Who would have thunk it? And it’s surprisingly, good, too.
It’s twenty years after the events of the novel The Maltese Falcon. The year is 1963, and the legendary Detective Sam Spade (Clive Owen) is enjoying his retirement. Spade's life 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.
But all of you hard-boiled detective fans, especially those who loved Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon (1941) know that the plot is not really important. In fact, The Maltese Falcon is not about the black bird itself; it’s just a device to get things moving, what Alfred Hitchcock called a McGuffin. It’s the characters that drive that car who are the real gems.
The same is true in Monsieur Spade; the overly complex plot is not really the thing. The people are. And they are unveiled ever so slowly, through a series of flashbacks. And yes, the flashbacks themselves are almost as confusing as the plot itself, but eventually you catch on, kind of.
***
Which reminds Different Drummer of a recent conclusion about film-making. The time limit of most films used to be 90 minutes, and I am now convinced that it is the perfect allotment. All of the “bingeworthy series” are there for commercial reasons, I think. Let’s get people hooked so we can string them out as long as possible without having to invent something new. Usually, unless it is either very hot or cold outside and nothing else beckons, most of those added minutes are worthless red herrings and detours.
***
One of the more interesting characters of Monsieur Spade is a nun, (Martine Schambacher), a Mother Superior, in fact. And she is certainly not disparaged as happens to most people of faith in current filmdom. As her character is revealed in a series of flashbacks, we get more and more texture to her past life and former identities. This scene between the two establishes her unique qualities.
Another memorable character is the ward thrust upon Spade by a past love, whom he is supposed to deliver to her reprobate father. She has both wit and instincts, not unlike Spade himself, as we find out when she runs to report on the deaths of all the nuns at her convent school.
Sam: You weren’t afraid?
Teresa: I had my knife. Though, sadly, I lost it.
Sam: In the chapel?
Teresa: In the monk.
Still another showstopper is Spade’s late French wife, Gabrielle, played by Chiara Mastroianni (the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni), a rich widow who rescues Spade and Teresa when his car breaks down. Her Rolls Royce is as exquisite as classy as she is, and the offer of a few nights in her guest house becomes permanent, until she has to leave him.
But dead or alive, she remains in his heart, and Spade feels closest to her when he swims, remembering her words, “Whenever you want to see me, come down here (the pool). I’ll be here waiting for you.“
His tenderness for her is certainly more mellow than Bogart’s final words to Miss O’Shaunessy in The Maltese Falcon.
I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years. I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you.
***
But the widower’s tranquility, melancholy though it is, is not to remain. Just like Michael Corleone.
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”
So it is with Monsieur Spade:
People come to you with their problems and you end up inheriting those problems. But you're good at fixing them, so the problems keep coming. Along with the money. In a very short while, the problems go from small to deadly. Turns out you're good at those too. Maybe too good. One day you wake up, you look in the mirror and you see someone you don't much like. No big deal. Just don't look in the mirror anymore. The money and the drink are a nice distraction until you finally rot from the inside all the way out. And no matter how much you drink, or how much money you make, you can never get away from your own stink.
Yes, Spade is only somewhat mellowed now. And that old meanness returns, but his cynicism is right on:
“You sound like a leaflet someone dropped from an airplane.”
“Then you're either really dumb, or you're trying to provoke me, which also makes you really dumb.”
Enjoy all 6 episodes, and don’t worry too much about the intricate plot. Remember, it’s the people that count, and this review presents just a sampling of them.
Oh, and if you’re wondering why Different Drummer chose this film for Father’s Day, you will have to watch the whole series to get a clue.
Not to miss, even if it makes you head spin at times. Or as Bogart’s Sam Spade said to Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre).
“When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it.
–Kathy Borich
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Trailer
Film-Loving Foodie
Spade is no gourmet, but he learns to appreciate the French Cuisine as he learns to love his French wife and speak her language more than passably. However, there are limits.
To a jealous husband: Whatever you are and whatever you want me to think you are, you're not drunk, you're not bored, and you're not all that interesting, so you can knock off that bug act and listen to what I have to say. I promise to be quick, you can get back to your sulking, and I can get back to the States where people don't butter their fucking fruit.
Sam: Tasty?
Patrice: (The Chief of Police) Tastier than tastes bad. The English do not know how to cook. I mean, sweet Jesus, why did anyone think a dish called Toad in the Hole would be anything but disgusting?
Sam: The wine was good.
Patrice: The wine was French.
So we have chosen something simple for Spade here. It is the French version of a ham and cheese sandwich, but nothing at all like ours in the States.
Of course, the recipe is pretty involved, but it should be fun for avid cooks.
Here are several other French recipes Different Drummer has already featured in her reviews:
Turtle Soup (Babette’s Feast)
Caviar and Creme Fraiche (Dead Again)
The French Martini (Mission Impossible: Fallout)
Baked Brie (Jagged Edge)
French Pizza (The French Connection)
Brandied Foie Gras Pie (Sherlock Holmes)
Chocolate Truffle (Hugo)
French Onion Soup (Army of Shadows)
Mushrooms in Sherry Cream Sauce (Death on the Nile)
French Potato Salad (Quartet)
Potato Truffle Tart (Delicious)
Fondue (November Man)
Pot in the Fire (The Train)
Parisian chicken (Taken)
Boeuf Bourguignon (Julie and Julia)
Chicken Cordon Bleu (Cache)
Croque Monsieur
BECHAMEL:
· ▢ 1/2 cup milk
· ▢ 1/2 cup cream (pure or heavy / thickened)
· ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp / 25g unsalted butter
· ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp flour , plain / all-purpose
· ▢ 1/4 tsp salt , kosher/cooking salt
· ▢ 1 pinch white pepper
· ▢ 1/8 tsp nutmeg , preferably freshly ground
SANDWICH:
· ▢ 4 slices sourdough bread , 1.5cm / ⅗" thick (Note 1)
· ▢ 8 slices Swiss or gruyere cheese (165g / 6 oz, enough for 2 layers a sandwich) (Note 2)
· ▢ 120g / 4 oz ham slices , preferably smoked
· ▢ 4 tsp Dijon mustard
· ▢ 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
TOPPING:
· ▢ 1/2 cup gruyere cheese , shredded (packed cup, Note 2)
· ▢ 3 tbsp parmesan , finely shredded (Note 2)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
BÉCHAMEL SAUCE:
1. Heat milk and cream: Place milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until steaming, but don't let it boil. Set aside.
2. Make roux: Melt butter in a separate small saucepan over medium heat, then turn the heat down to low. Add flour and cook, stirring almost constantly, for 3 minutes. Don't let it brown.
3. Add hot milk: While stirring, add half the milk. Once incorporated into the roux, mix in remaining milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
4. Thicken: Mix for 30 seconds to a minute or until it thickens into a spreadable and soft butter-like consistency (ie. not runny). If you have lumps, whisk until gone. Remove from heat (it is OK if it cools).
ASSEMBLE FOR PAN FRYING:
1. Spread with Bechamel: Spread half the béchamel over the 4 slices of bread, as though you are buttering them to make normal sandwiches! (Reserve half the béchamel for topping)
2. Cheese + Dijon: Top two pieces of bread with 2 slices of gruyere or Swiss cheese each (fold as needed to make them fit). Then spread the cheese with half the Dijon Mustard (this might sound weird, but see in post for why we do this!).
3. Ham + Dijon: Top with ham, then spread ham with remaining Dijon mustard.
4. Top each of the two slices with 2 more slices of cheese (again, folding as needed), then close sandwiches with the other slices.
PAN FRY:
1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Place sandwiches in the skillet, and cook for 2 minutes, pressing down lightly with an egg flip or spatula, until a deep golden brown.
2. Turn and cook the other side until golden brown. Transfer to a baking tray.
BAKE THEN BROIL:
1. Topping: Slather remaining béchamel thickly on the upper pieces of bread. Sprinkle with Gruyere, then parmesan.
2. Bake and broil: Bake 15 minutes, then switch to the grill/broiler for 3 minutes and grill until the top is golden and bubbling.
SERVE:
1. Immediately transfer to warmed serving plates, with knives and fork for serving (it's too messy to eat with hands.) For a traditional French bistro experience, add a side of fries and leafy greens lightly dressed in French Dressing or a basic vinaigrette. Devour and weep with joy! (Over the sandwich that is, not the salad!)
