Algiers (1938) User Reviews

The jewel thief of the Casbah

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 12 April 2006]

Imitation is the best form of flattery. For audiences that haven't seen the far superior, "Pepe le Moko", directed by Julien Duvivier, this version, will have to suffice. "Algiers" follows its French model in ways that it's just not a remake, it's a copy of the other film.

Fortunately for John Cromwell, a fine director, he got a tremendously appealing performance by Charles Boyer, a suave actor who embodied the famous jewel thief of that notorious district of Algiers. This film was also made better thanks to the magic camera work by James Wong Howe, one of the best men in the business, as proved by his long and distinguished career behind the scenes. Henri LaBarthe's novel was adapted for this American version by John Howard Lawson, with James Cain's helping with additional dialog.

"Algiers" is not without its own merits. Thanks to the talented cast that came together for the making of this film, it has gained the status of a classic. Charles Boyer was perfect as Pepe, a man whose life centers around the mysterious citadel where all kinds of unsavory characters live. Hedy Lamarr, one of the most beautiful faces in the movies, makes a good appearance as Gaby, the woman who steals Pepe's heart. Gaby and Pepe have a common ground as they reminisce of Paris, a city both love.

The other triumph of "Algiers" was the way the supporting players made this story much better, as it seems impossible to visualize other people cast for the key minor parts. Sigrid Gurie, is a mysterious Ines, the woman in love with Pepe. In her love, she doesn't stop to take into consideration what her actions will do to her lover. Gene Lockhart, a magnificent character actor, is phenomenal in his take of Regis, the schemer of the Casbah. Joseph Calleia, is perfectly sly as Inspector Slimane, a man with the patience of a saint, who must humor Pepe and his gang and who is powerless inside the Casbah. Stanley Fields makes a loyal Carlos, Pepe's trusted companion. Johnny Downs is seen as Pierrot and Leonid Kinskey, another character actor who worked extensively in that period of the American cinema, is excellent as L'arbi.

For those who haven't seen the original Duvivier film, try getting the wonderful DVD to see the great Jean Gabin in one of his best roles. The copy shown by TCM recently, seemed somewhat faded. We don't know if it has been remastered yet, but obviously, James Wong Howe's work ought to be seen in all its magnificence.

murky, but grand

[bruno-32 · 8/10 · 6 July 1999]

I've heard of this movie, and when I finally had a chance to view it, I was hooked. I actually thought I was in Algiers and the casbah. When I first saw Hedy Lamarr make her entrance, I was hooked again. What a vision of beauty. I could see now when fans talk about legendary beauties of Hollywood, she is most mentioned. Charles Boyer was great as Pepe La Moko, and so was Gene Lochart as the informer. To me, the ending was most tragic, and I will never forget the fading ship sailing away and Hedy's vision, never to see her lover again. No wonder its a classic. They don't make movies like these anymore, the pity of it all.

Back in the Casbah

[dbdumonteil · 7/10 · 31 August 2008]

It was made just one year after Duvivier's classic ,which even Godard (Godard!)mentioned in his "Pierrot LE Fou".Although I hate God'Art about as much as I love Duvivier,I must admit that a film that can transcend the New Wavelet's contempt possesses something magic a la "Casablanca" .

I was skeptical about the lead:aristocratic Charles Boyer replacing plebeian Gabin?I was wrong :Boyer,who began his career in France after all ,was up to scratch.And I 'd go as far as to write that Hedy Lamarr is much more attractive than Mireille Balin in the original.

All that remains is faithful like a dog: except for the scene when an old singer (Frehel) bursting into tears when she hears one of her old recordings,all the important sequences were kept.Cromwell's directing is efficient ,although it never recaptures the intensity (and the director's pessimism) of its model ,is a good film one can recommend to people who cannot get "Pepe Le Moko" .

Objections: the scene of Pierrot 's letter and the punishment of the informer is much too long and lacks suspense.Biggest gaffe is this ditty ("C'est La Vie" ) which Boyer sings and which seems out of a musical :in what is primarily a film noir,it's thoroughly incongruous.

Many of the great lines of the French classic can be heard ,notably the famous "I'm an informer,I'm not a hypocrite",and the Boyer/Lamarr pairing displays a special chemistry .The black and white makes a good use of shadows and lights.

If all the remakes were made with care like this one.....

Boyer and Lamarr trouble in paradise

[funkyfry · 7/10 · 24 September 2002]

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.

Lamarr's first American film

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 4 April 2008]

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.

Great FILM !

[mikelcat · 7/10 · 22 February 2009]

This is a really well done film that documents the true nature of the Casbah . A ghetto section of Algiers it was home to many peoples and religions , the most common theme was as a hideout for illegal activity and a haven for fugitives from justice somewhere in the world .The atmosphere is well done as a rather dank and dusty centuries old maze of connecting modules one leading to the other where only natives have a chance of navigating their way through .Pepe le Moko (Charles Boyer) is a fugitive from France jewel thief who longs to be home , Sigrid Gurie his shadow who does anything for his love .And Hedy Lamarr as the beauty who swoops in and steals Pepe's heart and good sense .A very entertaining film to watch . Try it !

Good Atmospheric Drama

[Snow Leopard · 11 April 2002]

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.

Great visuals, great setting, awkward writing, and some uneven acting...a mixed bag!

[secondtake · 6/10 · 23 March 2012]

Algiers (1938)

Take the teaming alleys of the old town of Algiers in North Africa, cramped and multi-national, filled with intentional mystery, and you have the basis of a great movie. A great, exciting, unique, visually gorgeous one.

And it delivers on some of those scores. But why is it also a bit clumsy and forced all he way through? Two main reasons, I think. First, some of the secondary characters are comic caricatures (like Gene Lockhart), and as if to confirm this, they are given some silly lines as well. Second, the direction, under John Cromwell, which is clumsy and patchwork. Some of the most ordinary lines are delivered with avoidable awkwardness. I don't think Charles Boyer is a very convincing Arab kingpin, nor is the chief policeman from Paris a bit believable. All of this stacks the movie against its terrific setting.

The highlight might actually be the simplest to understand--the photography by the great cameraman James Wong Howe. Right behind, but most accounts, is the presence of Hedy Lamarr as a kind of sophisticated femme fatale, bejeweled and bewitching. At least from the point of view of Boyer, who at one point is transfixed by her bracelet, her pearls, and her smile, in that order. The sure sign of a doomed man.

The drama does become more intense, and both the police pressure and the crossed lovers percolate a bit. Boyer remains perplexing as the leading man, as if always aware he's the leading man more intent on being charming (in that 1930s French way) than playing the part of a supposed boss. And just wait for the scene where he breaks into song and everyone comes around to listen. Good thing the photography never relents--you can watch the movie for the visuals alone.

I'm not sure what gives this movie its reputation, but I'll throw up a red flag against it. The exotic local, the mix of nationalities, the odd assortment of actors, and the central romance might make seem to presage Casablanca (in those ways) but the comparison ends there. Don't be discouraged by the first twenty minutes, which is the weakest part. By the end the mood has changed enough to work.

If you're wondering, this is a low budget production from Walter Wanger, a year before he produced John Ford's "Stagecoach." And the filming occurred in Algiers itself, which is part of the interest. Give it whirl. Try to find a sharper version than the lousy one Netflix streams.

Clouded by intrigue, aglow with ill-starred romance

[lora64 · 10/10 · 5 September 2001]

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.

A smoky encounter

[mik-19 · 6/10 · 20 February 2005]

While John Cromwell's Hollywood remake of Julien Duvivier's 'Pepe le Moko' from the year before is evidently the lesser film, still it has its share of artistic success. Cameraman James Wong Howe establishes a shifty, exotically attractive and morally uncertain milieu out of the casbah, the sordid urban jungle that is a city unto itself in the center of Algiers.

This is where the outcasts live, from all over the world, criminals, prostitutes, go-getters. French jewel thief Pepe lives here too, in exile but surrounded by good, loyal friends of every ethnic persuasion. Here he makes quick escapes over the rooftops and everybody protects him. The police has futile dreams of luring him out of the casbah where they can get to him, and maybe a visiting Parisian siren can be of help? Cromwell's version is very faithful to the original French film, and in every instance that I could think of is it inferior. But Howe's refined cinematography, the lighting and, most of all, Charles Boyer all make this a worthwhile watching experience. He is suave and magnetic, his accent intoxicating, and the scenes between him and the sultry Hedy Lamarr are cinema history, their meeting in the sleazy club where long, lingering closeups show the way he impresses himself on her, and this is one extremely sexy, even smoky encounter.

So, watch it, and then do yourself the favor of looking up Julien Duvivier's film, a vastly better one.

A study in cultural translation

[richard-1787 · 5/10 · 3 June 2008]

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.

Could Gabin Have Been Better?

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 15 January 2007]

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.

Cinematically Important

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 30 October 2006]

The benchmark performance in the stereotyping of Charles Boyer. I had never seen the film before and didn't realize that like "Play it again, Sam," he never utters the line "Come with me to the Casbah." I'm glad I saw it for Boyer's performance which is quite well sustained. He is truly a cad. He is truly a prisoner. Because of his success as a jewel thief, he can never leave the Casbah. The police play a waiting game. It's that old respect thing where he becomes the object of their searches and always manages to get away; his legend is greater than his being. However, it always gets us in the end, doesn't it? There are some nice performances and I always like films set in those desert cultures of the thirties and forties. I'm glad I saw it because it filled a hole in my movie knowledge.

If You Ever Wondered Why Casablanca Is A Classic . . .

[Dan1863Sickles · 2/10 · 25 December 2013]

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!

Come Wiz Me to Zee Casbah

[marcslope · 7 August 2001]

Boyer doesn't actually say that, of course -- in fact, he never LEAVES the Casbah, so how could he -- but it's the general idea. I'm told this independently-produced Hollywood classic is almost a shot-for-shot remake of Duvivier's "Pepe Le Moko," from the previous year; I've never seen that one, but it's hard to believe Duvivier could have matched John Cromwell's fabulous production design, combining skillful backlot compositions with second-unit location projections, or the moody James Wong Howe photography, with the sweeping tracking shots capturing life in every corner.

The story may be no more than standard romantic hokum, but whether the filmmakers intended it or not, the movie has a wonderful existential melancholy, with Boyer's heavy eyelids viewing the world impassively, accepting his fate unquestioningly. Add to that a fine rogue's gallery of character actors (especially nice work from Gene Lockhart and Alan Hale), and you have brilliant Hollywood escapism. The judicious, sparing use of music (unusual in those Max Steiner days of underline-everything-with-a-melody) adds to the atmosphere. And it matters not a whit that Hedy Lamarr is not much of an actress here, or that every plot turn is utterly predictable.

So much like the original French film, why not watch that one instead!?

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 December 2006]

In practically every way, this is a copy of the earlier French film PEPE LE MOKO which starred Jean Gabin instead of Charles Boyer (in the American version). So, I am left to wonder why people would want to see this Hollywood version when they could just watch the earlier film instead? This is especially true in the early part of the film when lousy stock footage is used to represent the streets of the Casbah in Algiers in the American film, but the French one looked like it was filmed on location. About the only other major way the films differ are at the end. In the French film, he commits suicide in a VERY unconvincing manner, but in the American version he is killed. I must say that the ending of ALGIERS was a lot better, but aside from that my nod goes to PEPE LE MOKO. Neither film are great, but very watchable and very stylish in the way they portray this slick master criminal.

Charles Boyer as Casbah-Nova...

[ElMaruecan82 · 6/10 · 28 September 2017]

I've seen remakes before but the case of "Algiers" doesn't quite make sense, even with objective Hollywood terms taken into reasonable consideration, why would anyone remake a classic French film one year after its release. Granted dubbing didn't prevail back then but why they just didn't release the French original? In 1937, Renoir made "Grand Illusion", one year later, it became the first foreign movie nominated for Best Picture, why was Julien Duvivier's classic not given the same treatment, especially since the film was a classic that ended up inspiring one of the most classic American movie of all time and Best Picture winner of 1943 "Casablanca".

"Algiers" is so similar in every single frame that you just have to read my review of "Pépé le Moko" to know the story the hell with my review, just watch the original movie. The film that starred Jean Gabin and Mireille Balin was both the French equivalent and precursor to "Casablanca" even in the way the protagonists where all embittered and somewhat lost souls driven by nostalgia and overwhelming circumstances not to mention some legal matters, and it's ultimately nostalgia from Paris that let poor Pepe lower his guard and get in trouble, that and a handful of betrayals. But nostalgia or not, I'm sorry but I couldn't buy English speaking Charles Boyer as a street-smart Parisian, which is silly since the actor is French.

His accent enhanced my suspension of disbelief, I remembered Boyer playing another grand French figure like Raimu's "César" and to the actor's credit, his performances are never impressions but personal takes on characters that shine on their own without stealing anyone's thunder. I like even Boyer in "Algiers" but let's accept it as a fact that Hedy Lamarr could never pass as a Parisian in the role played by her superior counterpart Mireille Balin, it's good enough that she could pass as a decent actress. I didn't see many Lamarr's movie but after watching her, I couldn't see what the fuss was all about. But I wouldn't say she was the main cause for my lack of interest toward the film.

I couldn't possibly take "Algiers" seriously because every shot, every moment was a replay of the original, and while there's nothing to blame on most of the cast, everyone from the squealer (Gene Lockhart) to the suave fez-wearing detective (Joseph Calleia) does justice to their parts but it was still the parts as they were played by the French actors, on that level, maybe "Algiers" is a masterpiece of 'recreation'. And I suspect the riveting opening montage was borrowed from "Pepe le Moko" because I liked the part so much I watched it again and I remembered the whole sequence. Too many déja vu to use a fitting French term and yet, they didn't even use much of the character originally played by singer Frehel.

I enjoyed "Algiers" as far as Boyer could carry the enjoyment alone and as long as I could see Paris in his eyes, his accent and his marvelous singing of "C'est la Vie!" but when Hollywood tries too much to imitate classics, I'd rather care for the classics. French 30's movies were a step ahead of other movies and without spoiling any of the two movies, let's just say that there was one aspect that "Algiers" couldn't replicate, it's the ending. Hays Code struck again, and it's a shame. The ending is still powerful enough but only as a culmination of that particular story, any five minutes from the French film are better than the climax of "Algiers".

Still, you'll never read me saying this movie shouldn't have been made. It should have, for one simple reason: Boyer's loving tirade introduces his French lover image and the iconic tirade imitated by Tom in the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon (ah you set my soul on fire) and Pepe le Moko inspired naturally Pepe le Pew, if only for these tiny bits of legacies, "Algiers" was a huge gift for the world of entertainment. The rest of the film is forgettable, it's sad but like Boyer would say c'est la vie!

Atmosphere to Spare

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 8 June 2020]

"Algiers" is one of those exotic foreign intrigue movies so popular throughout the 1930s -- the kind that introduced Marlene Dietrich to American audiences early in the decade -- and it's got atmosphere to spare. Charles Boyer plays jewel thief Pepe le Moko, hiding out in the Casbah and surrounded both by allies and those who are itching to turn him into the authorities for their own profit. He falls for a beautiful tourist, played by Hedy Lamarr, and the fantasy of a lovers' stroll through the streets of Paris with her is enough to make him wonder whether it's worth risking getting caught for a bit of old fashioned and normal romance.

Lamarr is certainly beautiful, but her part doesn't amount to much. The movie belongs to Boyer, and he's excellent, so good that his performance earned him a Best Actor Academy Award nomination at the 1938 Oscars. Gene Lockhart, as a sleazy toadie who double crosses Boyer, received a Best Supporting Actor nod. Two additional nominations went to the film's art direction and cinematography. In addition to its stylish look, I appreciated the film's tight screenplay, a little marvel of economic storytelling.

Grade: A-

Pepe le Moko Comes Out.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 22 December 2015]

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.

a stunning film on many different levels

[davidjaussi · 10/10 · 26 February 2006]

Algiers is stunning film on many different levels that carries an unusual originality for the time period. The romantic chemistry between Hedy Lamarr(Gaby) Charles Boyer(Pepe)is perhaps one of the movie's most fascinating and unusual aspects. But what really makes things shine is the brilliant black and white cinematography of James Wong Howe.

There are also many different one liners and camera shots in this film that have become famous over the years and it's fun just looking for things that you've heard or seen before. I'm not sure how much Warner Brother's cartoons based their stinky skunk (Pepe le Pew) on Charles Boyer's character Pepe le Moko but there has be some correlation.

Anyway, Algiers is a grand piece of entertainment well worth the watching.

introducing Hedy Lamarr

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 9 November 2018]

Pepe Le Moko (Charles Boyer) is a thief hiding from the French authorities in the murky underworld of Algiers' Casbah. It's impossible to find him and his stolen jewels in the narrow passages of the Casbah. He falls for beautiful Parisian Gaby (Hedy Lamarr) and he yearns to return to the open boulevards of Paris with her enraging his jealous Gypsy mistress Ines.

It's the American film debut of Hedy Lamarr. She had caused a sensation with her nude breakthrough film in Europe. Here she shows her beauty with a touch of class. Charles Boyer has a great coolness. The movie opens with a terrific montage of the real Casbah with its real inhabitants. It may be impossible but I do wish that the actors to actually be filmed in the Casbah. The artificial studio set does take away from the exotic feel. Nevertheless, there is some inventive camera work. This is a forgotten classic overshadowed by later icon Casablanca.

Pepe le Moko

[steph92010 · 1/10 · 7 April 2008]

Algiers is not a classic, it is a perversion of the wonderful original Pepe le Moko, directed by Duvivier and starring a much more attractive and charming Pepe, Jean Gabin. If you want to fully experience the Casbah and the characters in Algiers, I recommend you don't even watch this movie and see Pepe le Moko instead, for it is much more elaborate, more beautifully filmed, the lines are not clichéd and the characters adhere much more to reality. Furthermore, the ending is so dramatic and key to Pepe's character that you'll find the Algiers version intolerable. Although Algiers does an almost excellent job mimicking each scene, the acting falls short as does the credibility of the characters. Plus, the wardrobe is truly breath-taking in all scenes, particularly Pepe's in the last scene and Gaby's (at all times) but also when she's on the boat. Frankly, Algiers is cheap as far as imitations go.

Wonderful performances by Lamarr and Boyer

[lewis-51 · 8/10 · 27 April 2009]

This is a great movie well worth watching. The interaction between the leads, Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, is nothing short of beautiful.

Other people have described the plot, the setting, and the great photography, so I will skip that. Some have written here that Algiers compares well to "Casablanca." I can't agree with that. This movie doesn't have the heroism, the larger than life situation, the love triangle. For that reason, I can't rate it more than 8 (while I rate Casablanca a 10+).

As has also been noted here, Algiers is a remake of the French movie "Pepe Le Moko". I have not seen that movie. I'm sure I will someday. Some people have written that the French movie is better, and that the lead actor there, Gabin, is more believable as a gangster. That may well be true; I will not argue it. It doesn't matter. Boyer is excellent here. His personna is completely believable to me, and, frankly, I don't much care how closely he matches authentic French gangsters. No wonder so may female movie fans fell in love with him!

The movie is made even more appealing by the secondary characters. Gene Lockart's informer is well acted. Joseph Calleia does a great job as the "native" detective who has easy access to the Casbah. Sigrid Gurie is great as the jealous courtesan. Alan Hale Sr. is great as the witty erudite criminal. The rough fellow who always says "OK" was fun. I also enjoyed the slim bodyguard dressed in white who never said anything; not sure which actor this is.

If there is a flaw, it is maybe an overall dearth of intensity. Maybe this is a question of evolving movie-making style, a difference of eras. I think we expect criminals these days to show a lot of anger, to hear a lot of nasty snarling dialogue. You aren't going to hear that in this movie.

And frankly I don't care because this is not a crime drama, it's a tragic love story. Which brings us to the main reason to see this movie. Hedy Lamarr.

What can I say? "Wow" is hardly sufficient. "Holy @#!&%" doesn't help much. Of all the beautiful actresses there have been, of all the kinds of beauty -- cute, girl-next-door, classic, sultry, innocent, exotic, hot, mysterious, haughty, bombshell, va-va-voom, ethereal -- Hedy Lamarr had the best. No she didn't have the sexiest body; she was actually a little thin. She wasn't the oh-so-appealing cute type like Meg Ryan, or the sexy bombshell like Marilyn Monroe, or the exotic Greta Garbo. This is pure human female beauty. And it's not just some portrait or statue. She speaks, she smiles, she moves. There are at least three scenes of conversations with Charles Boyer that I just can't watch often enough. By direction or not, she slightly underacts. It's been said that she really wasn't that good at acting. Could be; again, who cares? She communicates plenty to me.

So applaud it for the plot, the photography, the great secondary characters, the wonderful Charles Boyer. And drink a toast to Hedy Lamarr.

"We play the game, but fate controls the cards".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 14 July 2011]

The exotic locale and mysterious characters invite the inevitable comparison to "Casablanca", though my reading of other reviews on this board would suggest that the more appropriate comparison to Bogart's film would be the French original, "Pepe le Moko". Since I haven't seen that one (at least yet), I'll have to confine my comments strictly to "Algiers".

To my mind, the picture doesn't approach the all around sense of romantic intrigue offered by Bogey and Bergman, but in the interest of full disclosure, "Casablanca" is my favorite film of all time, so one could say I have some bias. Leonid Kinskey is but the thinnest of threads between the pictures, having appeared in both, and it's interesting how similar his mannerisms and affectations are here even though he's portraying an Arab. The film probably could have used more signature character types like Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains, because even though Pepe's goons seemed a rugged bunch, they just didn't appear charismatic enough for the Casbah, 'a melting pot for all the sins of the Earth'. I guess since I've seen Alan Hale and Gene Lockhart in so many other pictures, I couldn't shake the idea that they were just terribly miscast here.

As for the ladies, Hedy Lamarr always succeeds in creating romantic tension in her films, but for my money (at least in this picture), Pepe needed to have his head examined for turning his back on Sigrid Gurie's Ines. I'm pretty sure 'smokin' hot' was never used to describe an actress in the Thirties, but it's the 2010's now, and that's how I see it. I get the whole business about Pepe feeling trapped for two years in the Casbah, and feeling lucky enough to make a break for it, but it didn't seem so bad that Ines was around to offer a shoulder and whatever else to ease the boredom.

Anyway, I'll be putting in my request at the local library for a copy of "Pepe le Moko" to compare and contrast as other reviewers have done. On balance though, "Algiers" has it's merits as an intriguing story with an exotic flair. Given the finale, one is led to consider that if Mister Rick and Ilsa Lund would always have Paris, the story of Pepe and Gaby leads one to ask what might have been.

A Good Performance By Boyer In An Otherwise Weak Story

[sddavis63 · 3/10 · 18 July 2009]

Pepe le Moko, played by Charles Boyer, is some sort of international criminal mastermind wanted in countries throughout Europe, and to stay free he holes himself up in the Casbah, a mysterious part of Algiers where even the police are reluctant to go, until a senior officer is sent from Paris to capture le Moko once and for all. For le Moko, although the Casbah allows him to remain out of police custody, it also becomes a sort of prison at the same time - a place he can't leave, because the moment he does, he knows he'll be arrested.

Boyer's performance was good, and I can understand why he was nominated for an Oscar. He captures the essence of such a character - a perfect combination of very dangerous and yet very classy at the same time. The movie itself, unfortunately, was quite a letdown. A number of parts of the story seemed inconsistent, of which I'll mention two. First was the idea that the police wouldn't enter the Casbah. That was stated pretty clearly at the beginning of the film by the local commander, and yet repeated references in the movie suggest that in fact the police did enter the Casbah fairly regularly. So, neither the suggestion by Commissioner Janvier that the police wouldn't enter, nor the statement by Inspector Slimane (also a decent performance by Joseph Calleia) that they could get into the Casbah but not out seemed to make much sense. I also found it difficult to believe that le Moko - hardened criminal mastermind that he was - could be so quickly swept off his feet by Gaby (Hedy Lamarr) to the point where he entertains the local populace by singing love songs and then leaves the Casbah to find her, essentially giving himself up. I understand the irony of the final few scenes, of course, as Pepe leaves the freedom of his prison (the Casbah) only to find real freedom in his capture (because he's shot and killed by the police.) I just found it impossible to believe that someone like le Moko would fall into such a trap.

This is worth watching for Boyer, and to a lesser extent Calleia, but the story is disappointing and inconsistent. 3/10