Passage to Marseille (1944)

Five patriotic convicts are helped to escape imprisonment in Devil's Island so they can fight for occupied Free French forces against the Nazis.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Casey Robinson (screenplay), Jack Moffitt (screenplay),

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michèle Morgan

Cast

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

Storyline

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. Framed for murder and sent to Devil's Island, he and four others escape. They are on a ship bound for Marseilles when France surrenders and fascist sympathizer Major Duval tries to seize the ship for Vichy.

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Plot Keywords:

ship | england | escape | devil's island | bomber | 

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Genres:

Drama | Adventure | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German Spanish

Release Date:

11 March 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Passagem Para Marselha

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Warner Bros. built a full-scale Merchant Marine ship in three months, modeled after the French ship Ville de Nancy.

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Goofs

When Paula mentions that Matrac had wanted to go to do stories in South America, Matrac agrees and mentions Guatamala and Peru. Guatamala is in Central America.

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Quotes

First Mate: The British will fight.
Chief Engineer: [Sarcastically] Yes, to the last drop of French blood.

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Someday I'll Meet You Again"
(1944) (uncredited)
Music by Max Steiner
Lyrics by Ned Washington
Sung by Corinna Mura at the nightclub
Sung also by an offscreen male voice
Played on piano by Michèle Morgan
Played often as part of the score

User Reviews

Bogart maintained an opposing balance of virtue and vice…

Wartime heroics never seemed exploited in quite so complex a fashion as "Passage to Marseille," directed by Michael Curtiz…

Bogart, a French journalist framed for murder because of his political views and sent to Devil's Island during World War II, escapes from his penal hell with four other convicts and winds up on a French freighter bound for home… Hoping to rejoin the fighting Free French resistance movement, the men, all fiercely loyal patriots, become involved in preventing a takeover of the ship by Fascist sympathizers…

This relatively simple plot line is then surrounded by a series of extraneous plots and subplots which were related in a series of single, double, and even triple flashbacks, making any semblance of coherency virtually impossible…

Bogart's characterization is equally vague and complicated as he maintained an opposing balance of virtue and vice… At one moment he is the picture of idealistic moral righteousness fighting against a callous system, and the next he debased his human nature as he brutally machine-guns some defenseless enemies… His moral platitudes do not balance his immoral behavior, making for ambiguity and confusion...

The most important saving grace of "Passage to Marseille" is the supporting cast headed by Bogart's "Casablanca" co-stars Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre, who all turned in strong character portrayals…