In France, the friends Paul Wagner (Maurice Ronet) and Christopher "Chris" Belling (Anthony Perkins) take a prostitute in their sport car and go to a park. Out of the blue, they are attacked by thieves and Paul is hit on the windshield and has a serious head injury. The woman is strangled by the attackers. Paul spends one year at a clinic to recover and Christopher's wife Christine Belling (Yvonne Furneaux) with the support of her secretary Jacqueline (Stéphane Audran) administrate Paul's family business of Wagner champagne. When Paul is recovered, he is different and Christine wants to cheat on him and sell his business, but Paul refuses the deal. Chris expects that Christine buys a yacht for him, if she succeeds. Paul travels with Christopher to Hamburg in a business trip and he recalls when Chris was a rent boy and Paul introduced him to the wealthy Christine. During the night, Paul goes to a restaurant, gets drunk, goes to a park with the prostitute Paula (Christa Lang) and faints. Later the police find Paula strangled in the morning. When Christine receives an anonymous letter about the murder of the woman, she blackmails Paul that is amnestic. When he goes to the party of the artist Evelyn Wharton (Suzanne Lloyd), Paul drinks too much and when he wakes up, Evelyn is strangled by his side. Is Paul a serial-killer?
"Le scandale" (1967), a.k.a "The Champagne Murders" is a movie by Claude Chabrol about a strangler of women that may be or not a wealthy owner of champagne business. The behavior of the lead characters misguides the viewer, since they have no moral compass. Paul is a futile heir; Christopher is a former rent boy, and Christine is totally unethical in business. When the real identity of the murderer is disclosed, the viewer will certainly have a surprise. The open end is a trademark of Chabrol to force the viewer to think and discuss his movie. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "O Escândalo" ("The Scandal")
