Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Julien Duvivier
Starring: Jean Gabin, Mirielle Balin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre, Line Noro
From: Paris Film
Rock the Casbah.
It was time to see some French Poetic Realism; Turner Classic Movies played this early in the evening yesterday-as it was remade immediately the next year by Hollywood as the Charles Boyer/Hedy Lamarr movie Algiers and I’ve dug Jean Gabin in the few movies I’ve peeped him in so far…
The titular Pepe le Moko is a master thief who has hid out in the Casbah of Algiers, Algeria for the past two years; as the movie made clear, the area is a giant den of antiquity which is not only labyrinth in design, a melting pot of people from around the world reside. They are happy to keep him hidden from the police. He’s bored in hiding-regrettably for him, not only does newfound love w/ Gaby suddenly complicates matters, so does law enforcement’s increasing the pressure to capture him.
The film’s always captivating due to the plot, the seedy yet intoxicating setting that feels lived-in, the colorful characters, and the lead performances by Gabin & Mireille Balin, as Gaby. I wasn’t surprised that Gabin delivered a magnetic, passionate performance where his figurative captivity in Algiers has created an increase in weariness; Balin as Gaby impressed me-naturally the characters were polar opposites yet I was able to comprehend their star-crossed, ill-fated romance.
In a sign that “the more things change, the more things stay the same” for Hollywood, this French picture was remade only one year later by Hollywood (from Walter Wanger Productions) as Algiers, starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr. In the future, that will be viewed and reviewed for comparison’s sake.
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