The holiday season is upon us and it’s time to turn our attention to wintery, Christmas-y movies. This week, we kick things off with the 1941 French film, L’assassinat du Père Noël/Who Killed Santa Claus?

The first film produced by Continental Films takes us to a small town in the French Alps on Christmas Eve. A globemaker with a dreamer for a daughter. A baron who has returned from traveling the world. A possible case of leprosy. Jealousy. Secrets. And strangers. So many elements converge in this funny and dramatic Christmas noir/mystery.

For decades, Cornusse the globemaker has dressed as Santa and visited every home on the night before Christmas. He also regales the children with stories of far-off places and fascinating people. The Baron Roland de la Faille has just returned after ten years. He hides himself away in his family manor, confessing to the chemist that he has contracted leprosy. But that doesn’t scare away Catherine Cornusse, whose head is full of fantasies and fairy tales. As Cornusse makes his rounds throughout the night, it’s clear something dark is about to upend the peace of the sleepy mountain hamlet.

Who Killed Santa Claus? stars Harry Baur, Renée Faure, Raymond Rouleau, and Robert Le Vigan. Charles Spaak adapted the script from Pierre Véry’s 1934 novel.

Continental Films launched in 1941 with this film. In four years, they released 30 films. The production studio was housed in occupied France under German control. During World War II, the studio was the only authorized French film producer under Nazi occupation. While their films were not direct and traditional propaganda, politics and art go hand-in-hand and the political climate is inescapable. But producer Alfred Greven focused projects on entertainment and profit. To accomplish this, he hired some of the biggest stars and directors of the era.

Released in France in 1941, Who Killed Santa Claus? did not make its way to the United States until 1948.

You can view Who Killed Santa Claus? here.