A wanted jewel thief ensconced in the Casbah meets a beautiful woman who makes him long for an escape.A wanted jewel thief ensconced in the Casbah meets a beautiful woman who makes him long for an escape.A wanted jewel thief ensconced in the Casbah meets a beautiful woman who makes him long for an escape.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
- Tania
- (as Mme. Nina Koshetz)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAnimator Chuck Jones based the Warner Brothers cartoon character "Pepe Le Pew" on Pepe le Moko (Charles Boyer).
- Goofs(at around 17 mins) Pepe teases Ines by saying the ring is "for some fat old woman". Ines spins counterclockwise nearly 360° and, again facing Pepe, says "Let me have it, Pepe". Then there is a slight, but noticeable, film cut before Ines adds, "Sometime I'll get fat."
- Quotes
Gaby: It's late. I must go.
Pepe le Moko: Suppose you don't come tomorrow?
Gaby: Suppose I don't? Can't you ever get away from the Casbah?
Pepe le Moko: Why do you ask?
Gaby: Can't you?
Pepe le Moko: No. I'm caught here, like a bear in a hole. Dogs barking, hunters all around, no way out of it. Do you like that? Maybe it's lucky for you.
Gaby: I don't like it. And it's not lucky.
Pepe le Moko: You're right. If you don't come back, I might do anything. I might go down to your hotel to get you.
Gaby: Tomorrow, Pepe.
Pepe le Moko: Tomorrow?
Gaby: I never break a promise.
- Crazy creditsWhen complete cast credits are listed at the start of a movie and at the end, there are usually no changes. In this movie, the end credits reverse the order of the last two credits: Bert Roach follows Ben Hall.
- Alternate versionsSome prints have a different opening credits sequence, in which the credits are shown against a black background.
- ConnectionsEdited into Your Afternoon Movie: Algiers (2022)
Pepe is wanted in metropolitan France for stealing jewelry but not, apparently, for any crimes of violence. He's hunkered down in Algiers's famous "casbah," the native quarter whose name is evocative of mystery and, of course, sensuality. Pepe seems to be a sort of Great White Crime Boss in the native quarter where locals both protect and respect him. It's never clear how he ascended to that height.
Pepe has a beautiful lover, Ines, played by the truly gorgeous Sigrid Gurie. Legend has it that "Algiers" was to be the vehicle to propel this Scandanavian actress to wide fame but in reality her film career was rather short. The winner in this case, besides Boyer, was newcomer Hedy Lamar whose role as Gaby is central to Pepe's loss of control over his small world and, eventually, of himself.
Gaby arrives in Algiers engaged to a fat, vulgar borderline-loathsome older man who clearly regards her as a trophy bought and paid for. Why she needed this creep isn't clear. What is clear is her falling in love with Pepe who abandons the devoted and clinging Ines for this right-off-the-boat hothouse beauty.
A Parisian police official is in Algiers (Algeria, a French colony for those who don't know history) determined to collar Pepe. His forays into the casbah meet with no success and quiet derision from both the locals and some of the French police who understand that the casbah is honeycombed with escape routes and populated with folks eager to thwart the gendarmerie. A very interesting character is Inspector Slimane, Joseph Calleia. Amused by the foolish antics of his superior, Slimane knows the casbah and in his own way is determined to bring Pepe to justice. His mission isn't kept from Pepe and the two have a cordial relationship with the cop telling the crook that eventually he will be the cause of his own downfall.
Sarcastic, witty and observant, Slimane is an arresting character (pun intended). It's not clear if he's a native gone over to the police or a Frenchman who has jumped the reservation and found a more comfortable life straddling two cultures. There's something almost Russian in his outlook and words.
"Algiers" ends with a famous scene that while not at the level of the closing moments of "Casablanca" nonetheless rightfully shares pride of place with that all-time great movie.
Boyer is powerful in a role in which, through circumstances he could have controlled but didn't, he slides into a mortal abyss.
A must-see movie for anyone interested in prewar films that reflect an actually racist view of non-European life at once almost ridiculous but at the same time dramatically engaging.
And let's not forget yesterday's lunacies: Cromwell, a director with many films under his belt, was blacklisted through most of the 50s and his career never rebounded from that extra-legal punishment for non-crimes.
8/10
- How long is Algiers?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Argel
- Filming locations
- Algiers, Algeria(background shots)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1