Remake of a silent movie (1923) "Sarati le terrible" (=dreadful Sarati)takes place in North Africa where Duvivier often located his works ("les 5 gentlemans maudits" ,"la bandera" ,"Pepe Le Moko ") with this director's favorite actor, the powerful Harry Baur .André Hugon , a prolific director,is at the helm ;his "les trois masques" was the French first talkie.
In Alger ,Sarati a strong man with a single earring which makes him look a gypsy ,rents furnished rooms to the dockers he shamelessly exploits ; he lives with his niece ,Rose , and little by little, one feels he desires her .Up comes a mysterious French ,who reveals himself a fallen aristocrat , who has severed all links with his family .He falls for Rose and realizing her uncle has his eyes on her, the girl gets scared and leaves home.
The exploitation of the dockers is hinted at ,but it's only when the new young boss wants to use machines ( so my clientèle -the dockers- won't need rooms anymore)that one feels Sarati's greed .
The fallen aristocrat is a subject which has often be broached ("les nouveaux messieurs " ,"les affaires sont les affaires""le roman d'un jeune homme pauvre" ) and the erstwhile count has already understood that his future lies beyond an obsolete class : business time has come from him and during the whole movie ,he climbs up the social ladder,from a docker to a foreman to the boss who will replaces the aging one who trusts him las though he were his son.
An aging man's love for a girl younger than him has often been treated ; here Raimu's attitude is more ambiguous than the one he shows in "dernière jeunesse"; it's actually closer to the shameful desire Michel Simon feels for her ward Michèle Morgan ,in "quai des brumes ". Raimu's amour fou verges on madness, hence the horrible last scene .
It's Jacqueline Laurent's sophomore effort ,after "Gaspard De Besse " ,another Hugon's movie .They say she was poet Jacques Prévert's squeeze and it certainly helps her to get her best role in Carné's "le jour se lève" (1939);the cast also features Jean Tissier ,as an alcoholic and Dalio as the aristocrat's chum.
