Un'americana nella casbah

No, Charles Boyer never said, "Take me to the Casbah." That is just as false as "Play it again, Sam," a line from a film that will come to mind when watching this one.

Boyer (Conquest, Fanny, Gaslight) picked up his second Oscar nomination for this film. He plays a jewel thief that has found a haven in the Casbah in French Algiers. He has a hot girlfriend in Sigrid Gurie, but he sees Hedy Lamarr and it is all over. he falls head over heels and spends languid afternoon reminiscing about a Paris that he can never see again.

Director John Cromwell, who had his career ruined by McCarthy fascist in the 50s, did a very good job of presenting the excitement of the Casbah and the attempts by the French police to trap Boyer. He was ably assisted by the sets decorated by Alexander Toluboff (Stagecoach, Vogues of 1938) and the cinematography of James Wong Howe (The Rose Tattoo, Hud), who along with Toluboff received an Oscar nomination for this film, the first of ten in his career.

Just like Kong, it wasn't man, but beauty killed the beast. In this case, the beauty of Hedy Lamarr proved to be the death of Boyer in an ending that will again remind one of Casablanca.

I've seen this film countless times on tv, usually in the 1 a.m. time slot. Am always fascinated by it somehow. There's such an authentic atmosphere of the locale, very suspicious characters, intrigue and suspense both indoors and on the streets.

The suave Charles Boyer (as Pepe, the thief) certainly grips one's attention while he becomes more mired in the plot as it unfolds. Hedy Lamarr lights up the screen with her glowing beauty, one forgets she's supposed to be acting, but is that important? Of course not. I can't imagine the story having her engaged to marry an elderly wide-girthed fellow; my goodness, for her anything's better than that! There's a youngish Leonid Kinskey also appearing as a supporting actor, along with reliable Alan Hale (formerly Robin Hood's buddy, more or less) and Gene Lockhart, whom I've never seen in such a serious role as this one.

It's a movie that stands the test of time.

Though "Algiers" is not so well-remembered today, it's not hard to see why it was quite popular in its time. It's a good atmospheric drama that makes you feel as if you were part of the story, and it also has a good cast and interesting characters. The story is told well, and most of the time it moves at a good pace.

The atmosphere of the 'Casbah' is set up nicely from the beginning. The opening scene, as the police discuss how they might catch the notorious Pepe Le Moko, is very efficient in describing the city and its peculiarities, and it is a good prologue to the story that follows. As it progresses, there are a lot of interesting details with some good photography that bring everything to life. Boyer and Lamarr are pretty good as the leads, although the supporting cast and characters are least as important to making everything work. It has several fine character actors such as Gene Lockhart, Alan Hale, Joseph Calleia, and Paul Harvey, who all play interesting roles.

Aside from a couple of slow spots and perhaps a few minor signs of age, this is an entertaining drama that is well worth tracking down for anyone who enjoys classic cinema.

Satisfying, exotic American version of the French film "Pepe Le Moko" (which, I've heard, was distributed here in the U.S. under its French title, which means Pepe the Pimp, unbeknowest to the censors). Boyer leads the right star performance and Lamarr gets her ingenue role as the girl he loves but can't see outside of the Casbah. When the police try to arrest Pepe in the Casbah, he quickly disappears and they receive no cooperation from the locals. To lure him out of that district's confines, the cops set up a trap using the unknowing Lamarr as bait. their sad, brief romance ends, presumably, with his incarceration. Similar in plot, but not in tone, to contemporary "gangster" flicks.

The tragic account of Pepe Le Moko having been filmed in France the year before with Jean Gabin as the star must have really impressed producer Walter Wanger. It's not often that a remake is made only a year later.

Jean Gabin who has been compared to Humphrey Bogart certainly would have brought a different style of Pepe Le Moko. But this film did wonders for Charles Boyer in establishing him among the first rank of American film stars.

His Pepe is suave, cunning, and deadly. Unfortunately while hanging out in the forbidden section of French Algiers known as the Casbah, Pepe has sort of built his own prison in that section. He cannot leave because the French police will grab him and a whole bunch of countries are getting in line with the French Foreign office to deport to face a slew of crimes. But in the Casbah he's untouchable as the visiting French prefect Paul Harvey finds out.

Joseph Calleia as Inspector Slimane knows the only way to capture him is to lure him out of his shelter. And the bait for that walks in with a visiting tourist from Paris played by Hedy Lamarr.

Hedy Lamarr was under contract to MGM having been brought over by Louis B. Mayer after her scandalous nude scene in the Austrian film Ecstacy. But MGM couldn't find anything for her to do, so she stayed idle drawing her weekly paycheck while a suitable property was found.

Boyer met Lamarr at a party according to The Films of Hedy Lamarr Citadel Press Series book and was taken with her. He told Walter Wanger and Wanger worked out a deal with Mayer that they could have Lamarr if Boyer did an MGM film. The one he did was Conquest with Greta Garbo. Seems to have worked out all around.

There's a lot of debate as to how good an actress Lamarr was. And in the right circumstances she could give a decent performance. The right circumstances was definitely Algiers where Boyer knew that the woman who could stir him from his safety net had to be one extraordinarily beautiful woman. No one ever questioned that about Lamarr. Algiers launched her career for American audiences with a blowout performance.

Charles Boyer was nominated for Best Actor as Pepe, but lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town. And Gene Lockhart as the treacherous Regis got a nod for Best Supporting Actor, but he was beaten out by Walter Brennan in Kentucky.

What's even more extraordinary is that Director John Cromwell did a magnificent job in capturing the mood and ambiance of Algiers. A few establishing newsreel shots and great sets and you would think this was done on location.

There was a third film version of Pepe Le Moko's story with Casbah starring Tony Martin. It was a musical version that fell short of establishing Martin as a big screen draw, but the songs were some of his best selling records.

Still though Boyer does a fabulous job as Pepe, though I would some day like to see Jean Gabin's version for comparison.