Algiers (1938)

I love this movie so much

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

The first must-see film of the year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Directed by John Cromwell, with a screenplay by John Howard Lawson, this above average romance drama stars Charles Boyer as Pépé le Moko, a notorious criminal who's safe as long as he remains in the problematic (for the authorities) area of the titled North African city called the Casbah.Just so you know, Boyer never utters "come with me to the Casbah" the way Chuck Jones's skunk "Pépé le Pew" (and other animated characters) used to say. The Casbah or "old city" forms the upper part of Algiers, replete with labyrinthine passageways and a 16th century walled fortress. It's filled with nefarious persons who can easily escape the police et al by traveling above the streets from terrace to terrace where outsiders are, not only not welcome but, likely to be killed!The film's Art Direction and James Wong Howe's (his first) Cinematography (which has a sloppy, almost newsreel feel to it in the beginning; but hang in there, it gets better) received Oscar nominations, as did Boyer and veteran Supporting Actor Gene Lockhart (his only), whose character exhibits many of the attributes "we've" grown to love over the years - nice to see that, unlike many others in his profession, he actually received some recognition for them.Wanted by police the world over, Pépé (Boyer) has been "holed up" in the Casbah for two years such that his oasis, from the authorities that hope to lure him from within its confines to arrest him, has become his prison without bars. A frustrated law officer from Paris, Janvier (Paul Harvey) comes to Algiers in hopes of penetrating Pépé's adoptive home and arresting him. Janvier just thinks the Algerian authorities are incompetent, especially when he learns that the local detective Slimane (Joseph Calleria) walks among Pépé and his entourage, conversing with the criminal, daily. He soon learns otherwise, when he ventures into the Casbah with twelve officers and fails to capture his prey.Pépé is protected by the Casbah's general population, but also maintains a group of "bodyguards" that includes a jeweler (Alan Hale, dependable as always & making an impact despite his limited screen-time), a "green" youngster Pierrot (Johnny Downs), a steady girl Ines (Sigrid Gurie), a heavy (Stanley Fields), and a couple of others who never speak. Another, Regis (Lockhart), hangs around the card playing group, but isn't really part of the inner circle because Pépé doesn't trust him. And for good reason, given the fact that Regis turns out to be an informer whose efforts with the police fail to catch Pépé on at least two occasions. But Regis gets his comeuppance for his betrayal involving Pierrot.A third of the way into the film Pépé meets a visitor to his community, a beautiful woman named Gabrielle (Hedy Lamarr), or Gaby for short. She's from his hometown of Paris and is bejeweled with gifts from her fiancé, with whom she's traveling along with another couple. Pépé is not only entranced by her hardware, which also interests his heavy Carlos (Fields), but also by her software (it's Hedy Lamarr, after all!). They form a "kinship" which upsets Ines, naturally making her jealous, which will later lead to unintended consequences for Pépé. Gaby's fiancé, who knows she doesn't love him and (at one point) utters a racial slur about the Africans, is powerless to keep her from visiting the Casbah and Pépé. The beefy, dim-witted Carlos can't understand why Pépé's interest in separating Gaby from her jewelry has waned as the two's romantic relationship develops; the "couple" pretends to take in various Paris landmarks during their afternoon affairs.As a contrast to Janvier, Slimane chooses to use his brains over police brawn to learn as much as he can about Pépé, developing a relationship that he hopes will serve him one day. In fact, he's got a great putdown line to Janvier (early in the film). Slimane tells Pépé confidently that he'll get him in the end, and correctly predicts that it will be a woman that leads to his undoing.

The Casbah is accurately described under the opening credits as a neighborhood of Algiers that was built on a series of marine terraces and stops at the sea. It really was a seedy and fetid maze of dwellings that provided a home for criminals. In the Algerian War fought by the French, it was a hiding place for the nationalist rebels. I conducted a thorough investigation of the area by reading the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry.The police have been trying to nab the notorious criminal, Pepe le Moko (Charles Boyer). However, he has many friends who warn him when the police are coming, and there is a labyrinth of hidden passageways and tunnels that make it extremely difficult. An investigator comes down from Paris to kick some local butt.He's met by frustrated local cops who explain the situation to him. The most memorable of the policiers is the smiling, philosophical, slightly oily Joseph Calleia. He's irresistible. The head honcho from Paris leads a police squad into the Casbah and Pepe and his friends run them ragged. Of course, if Pepe should ever stroll out of the Casbah, he's yesterday's news. Boyer knows he can't come out, and it fills his heart with melancholy because he yearns to go back to Paris. Ah, Paris -- La Place Blanche, La Gare du Nord, Les Filles de Joie, La Bourdaloue.Enter a wealthy tourist, Hedy Lamarr, who sports a perfectly elliptical face with a vertical axis, and who drips with the jewelry that catches Boyer's eye. Her real name, of course, isn't Hedy Lammar. Nobody is named Hedy Lamarr. Don't kid yourself about that. She was born into a royal Austrian family and named Prinzessen Brynhyldr von Speck und Brodt. Please, it doesn't make her less appealing.Among the denizens of the Casbah we can glimpse Leonid Kinsky. He was one of two of Hollywood's resident comic young Russians, the other being Mischa Auer. Vladimir Sokolov was Hollywood's ancient, mystic Russian -- the only one. He had a busy career.It's an interesting film, not gripping, and a bit stagy, but generally well executed. The musical score is strictly pedestrian but the photography and direction are quite good. There's a spooky scene involving the deliberate murder of the pudgy trembling traitor, Gene Lockhart, done to the overloud tune of a rickety piano. At the opposite end of the scale, a chipper song by Boyer, "C'est La Vie," threatens to turn the romantic drama into a musical comedy. It's painful to watch. The large supporting cast does well by their roles. Boyer is smooth and French, but it's hard to believe at this point in time that the ladies swooned with such abandon over Boyer and his accent. His resonant baritone was imitated by impressionists for years afterward. "Come Wiz Me...." Boyer has a serious problem, though. He has a native girl friend, Sigrid Gurie, who adores him but whom he shoves around and tells to shut up all the time. Well, we all know that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Pepe should never have left the Casbah to intercept the woman of his dreams at the boat dock, at least not with Sigrid Gurie knowing about it.The ending is a sea of bathos though, in a sense, Boyer does finally escape from the Casbah.

ALGIERS is just like Casablanca -- only slower, sleazier, sadder.I realize this movie came first, but it's like every single ingredient was copied -- and improved on -- by the team of screenwriters who hammered together CASABLANCA a few years later.1.) Cynical, Shady Hero. Check. Except that Pepe LeMoko is just a crook. There's no hint of courage or self-sacrifice in his past. Also he sings a love song while polishing his shoes. I wanted to shove him right off the balcony! 2.) Innocent, High-Class Heroine. Check. Except that Gabrielle in ALGIERS isn't really innocent. She's not truly in love with a distinguished freedom fighter, she's marrying a fat, disgusting slob for money. But at least she looks good in diamonds and jewels! 3.) Corrupt, Lovable Police Inspector Who Secretly Admires the Hero. Check. Except Claude Rains in CASABLANCA plays his part like he's having the time of his life -- like it's FUN to be a corrupt cop. And you sense how much he loves Rick, even when Rick is pointing a gun straight at his heart. ("That is my least vulnerable spot.") The guy in ALGIERS is okay, but he looks so sad and depressed all the time. It's almost like he knows how the movie is going to end! 4.) Slutty Bad Girl Who Clings To The Hero. Check. Except in ALGIERS the local girl who's crazy about Pepe is actually tougher, braver, classier, and more loyal than the heroine! And that kind of shoots the main love story right in the foot, don't you think? 5.) A Colorful Supporting Cast Made Up Of The Usual Suspects. Check. Except that Pepe's gang are all wildly miscast (Alan "Little John" Hale as a sleazy Middle Eastern merchant? I bet the Sheriff of Nottingham thought that one up!) And then there's Stanley Fields (still looking for the Island of Dr. Moreau) and a couple of random guys. These people are just, well, creepy. Oh, and watch when they torture the stool pigeon to death for about TEN MINUTES! Great stuff, if you're watching a Cagney movie, but this is a love story. Isn't it? Isn't it? 6.) Bittersweet Tragic Ending Where Our Hero Doesn't Get The Girl. Check. Except that running after an ocean liner just looks stupid. Watching a plane take off is classy. I don't know if anyone even realized just how funny it was when Pepe was bolting down the dock screaming like a banshee -- and then gibbering like an idiot. And what were Pepe's last words? Here's looking at you, kid? We'll always have Paris? No, I think Pepe was saying, let's get it right next time!

I saw Algiers just a few days after its French original, Pepe le Moko, which doesn't do Algiers a lot of favors. So, before writing this review, I read the 20+ ones already posted here, mostly from viewers who had not seen Pepe le Moko first, to see how they reacted to Algiers without knowing the French original. Most of them liked it a lot.While I wouldn't go that far - despite a few of the comments, I found this movie not even close to Casablanca - I did find it enjoyable for certain things, if not for others.While I like Charles Boyer in certain movies (Gaslight, primarily), in this film he is radically inferior to his French predecessor, Jean Gabin. Gabin is very believable as a thief and member of the underworld; it is hard to imagine Boyer surviving there 10 minutes. Gabin could be rough and charming; Boyer is "suave", but there is no dark underside to it.Hedy Lamarr is indeed beautiful, and sometimes gets to do some acting here. She never overacts (as Boyer and some of the others do), so she is always fun to watch.The best acting, however, is in the character roles, some of which are in no way inferior to the original. Gene Lockart's death screen is well acted and magnificently staged; it is one of the best moments in the movie. Joseph Calleia is very good as the police agent throughout.Still, the best thing in this movie, for me, was the lighting and camera work. Often atmospheric, some of the shots are very strikingly composed. The next time I watch this movie, it would be tempting to do so with the sound off for most of it - though not when Vincent Scotto's music is playing. It is haunting and very evocative; another of the best features of the film.My only complaint about this movie is the end, which some previous reviewers liked. (Here comes the spoiler.) In the original, Jean Gabin commits suicide when he realizes he can't have Gaby; it is a chilling scene very well done. In the American remake Boyer gets shot while running to the ship; it makes him much more of a victim without control of his destiny, and in that sense was a real aggravation after having seen how it "could have been done." Other changes in the movie are interesting examples of cultural differences: in the French original, Gaby is the well-paid mistress of the wealthy overweight Frenchman; there is no question of marriage between them. In the American remake, they are engaged, and while there is no suggestion either loves the other, the relationship would have been seen as less immoral. In the same sense, the low-life is the French Casbah is much more clearly low: prostitution, etc. That is all glossed over in the American remake.So, a movie worth watching, especially for the lighting, the camera work, and some of the direction, as well as the acting of some of the subordinates. Watch this movie first, and then Pepe le Moko, and you will enjoy it more.