Passage to Marseille (1944)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Casey Robinson (screenplay) and
Jack Moffitt (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 March 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure | War

Plot:

As French bomber crews prepare an air raid from a base in England, we learn the story of Matrac, a French journalist who opposed the Munich Pact...

Plot Keywords:

Ship | French | Murder | Escape | Devil's Island

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Jean Matrac
Claude Rains	...	Captain Freycinet
Michèle Morgan	...	Paula Matrac (as Michele Morgan)
Philip Dorn	...	Renault
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Major Duval
Peter Lorre	...	Marius
George Tobias	...	Petit
Helmut Dantine	...	Garou
John Loder	...	Manning
Victor Francen	...	Captain Patain Malo
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Grandpere
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Chief Engineer (as Edward Ciannelli)
Corinna Mura	...	Singer

Runtime:

109 min | France:75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #9359) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

One of the few films to employ a flashback within a flashback within a flashback. This film is often seen as an attempt to recapture the magic of Casablanca (1942), to which many key players were also a part of. Some "usual suspects" include director Michael Curtiz, stars Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains, supporting and bit players Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Helmut Dantine and Corinna Mura, writer Casey Robinson, composer Max Steiner, producer Hal B. Wallis and executive producer Jack L. Warner (both films were made by the studio Warner Bros.). Also, Michèle Morgan was originally cast as Ilsa in Casablanca (1942), but her salary demand was too big, so Ingrid Bergman was cast instead.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the film, the aircraft used by the Free French squadrons are American-built Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, and are described as such by Capt. Freycinet. There actually were two Free French heavy bomber squadrons based in England: Groupes de Bombardment GB II/23 "Guyenne" and GB I/25 "Tunisie," which were part of the Royal Air Force as 346 and 347 Squadrons respectively. However, they did not fly Fortresses. Their aircraft was the British-built Handley Page Halifax. Obviously, for Hollywood purposes, Fortresses were easier to obtain than Halifaxes.

Quotes:

Jean Matrac: Funny how much more you can say with a few bars of music then a basket full of words.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Warner at War (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Someday I'll Meet You Again

Casablanca Redux?

I think this film gets a bad rap as most people see it as a Casablanca wanna-be based on the fact that the same players appear in both (even the singer Corinne Mura shows up here although she was uncredited in Casablanca). Granted, this is a propaganda film but so were hundreds of others made at this time. France gets particular attention as the sole cause of the Munich sell-out and Marshall Petain, old and misguided, gets all the blame......this is not exactly how it was but we have to remember that Vichy was collaborating with the Nazis. (Remember how Claude Rains threw away the bottle of Vichy water in Casablanca?) So we have to view this film in the context of the times.

Bogey plays his character just like Bogey.....no attempt at a French accent which probably would have been disastrous anyway and the cast is a melting pot of nationalities. But how can you go wrong with Bogey, Greenstreet, Rains and Lorre? They could make an educational film about the building and maintenance of an internal combustion engine interesting!

The flashbacks are not hard to follow, and although a rather awkward story telling method in this particular film, don't really take that much away from the screenplay.

Bogey's actions surrounding the survivors of the downed German plane were a bit surprising but hey, it was war. The entire fight on the ship against the Germans was the best part of the film.

Michele Morgan had absolutely nothing to do in this film which is too bad as she was a wonderful actress with a haunting beauty but this is basically a man's movie.

All in all, this isn't a bad film but it has suffered because of its comparison to Casablanca. Be warned that it is pure propaganda but I found it enjoyable and a window on a different time.