Algiers (1938)

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Henri La Barthe (novel)
John Howard Lawson (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 August 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

You've Got A Date With Danger, A Rendezvous With Romance In The Glamorous, Mysterious Algiers . . Make A Date Now !

Plot:

Beautiful Gaby meets a romantic jewel thief in the mysterious Casbah.

Plot Keywords:

Casbah | Thief | Jealousy | Gunshot Wound | Letter

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Cast

Charles Boyer	...	Pepe le Moko
Sigrid Gurie	...	Ines
Hedy Lamarr	...	Gaby
Joseph Calleia	...	Inpector Slimane
Alan Hale	...	Grandpere
Gene Lockhart	...	Regis
Walter Kingsford	...	Chef Inspector Louvain
Paul Harvey	...	Commissioner Janvier
Stanley Fields	...	Carlos
Johnny Downs	...	Pierrot
Charles D. Brown	...	Max
Robert Greig	...	Giraux
Leonid Kinskey	...	L'Arbi
Joan Woodbury	...	Aicha
Nina Koshetz	...	Tania (as Mme. Nina Koshetz)

Runtime:

96 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:Unrated (DVD) | Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #4331) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Algiers, Algeria

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

The cast and credits are based on the 98-minute print shown on Turner Classic Movies, but the AFI Catalogue lists slightly different changes which suggest that their print may have been a re-release. In the AFI Catalogue listing, Sigrid Gurie's name is above the title with the rest of the cast list the same. The crew credits are identical, except that James Wong Howe is credited for "photography" instead of "director of photography." The latter terminology was rare in 1938, but not unheard of.

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?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Teknolust (2002)

Soundtrack:

C'est la vie

Lamarr's first American film

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.