Algiers

Film: Algiers
Year: 1938
Cast: Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie, Hedy LaMarr, Joseph Calleia, Alan Hale, Gene Lockhart, Walter Kingsford, Paul Harvey, Stanley Fields, Johnny Downs, Leonid Kinskey
Director: John Cromwell
Nominations: Best Actor (Boyer), Best Supporting Actor (Lockhart), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction

We begin our project with Algiers. As I said in my initial post, the random year and category I selected was Best Supporting Actor, 1938. I decided I would watch the films in alphabetical order, so this week, Algiers is up.

As I've said, when a film I've watched was nominated in multiple categories, I don't see a need to review it each time it comes up, though in the recap posts I will discuss the other appropriate nominations in comparison with their competitors. So while this post is first because of Gene Lockhart's nominated supporting performance, I'll touch a bit on Charles Boyer's Best-Actor-nominated performance as well.

This film was, essentially, Casablanca before there was such a thing as Casablanca. It takes place in an exotic locale, in this case the Casbah district in Algiers (hence the title) and focuses on a man whose hands aren't exactly the cleanest, who has a complicated but not unpleasant relationship with local law enforcement, and his world is rocked by the arrival of a beautiful woman. In fact, this film bears such a resemblance to Casablanca that when it was being pitched, Julius Epstein eventually just said "Oh, what the hell, it's Algiers." What it actually is, however, is an English-language remake (nearly shot-for-shot, from what I read!) of a French film called Pépé le Moko. It's the story of a career criminal who is currently holed up in the Casbah in Algiers, untouchable as the Casbah is essentially a wretched hive of scum and villainy, unmanageable by police. Think the Narrows in Batman Begins (though it looks like a lot more fun).

Its king is Pépé le Moko (Boyer), a crime lord and master thief. In person, he's a charming Frenchman who is hardly ever seen on camera actually committing a crime. The only real crime we witness him commit is shooting an informant (more on that in a moment), while in another scene we see him speaking with his fence about the value of some jewels. But mostly his crimes are left vaguely hinted at. What's mainly important is that the French police want him badly, and a French inspector (Paul Harvey, and no, not that Paul Harvey), who's about as French as Morgan Freeman is white, is angered by the local police chief's insistence that as long as he's walled inside the Casbah, he's untouchable. He leads several raids that Pépé easily avoids, but a local officer, Inspector Slimane (Joseph Calleia), is hunting Pépé mainly by use of informants who gradually lead away Pépé's protection.

The characters of Pépé and Inspector Slimane are, to me, the main draws of this film. Yes, there's a love triangle between Pépé, a gypsy named Ines (Sigrid Gurie) who is tangentially connected to his gang and loves him unrequitedly, and Gaby, a French tourist who's engaged to a rich man she doesn't love, but both women are less people and more walking representations of Pépé's frustrating situation.

See, Pépé feels like the Casbah is his prison. He hates having to hide out there; he wants to go back to France and live as a free man. Gaby represents this ideal to him, so while one could be tempted to wonder why and how he falls for her so hard, so fast, I don't believe he's fallen for her at all, but more the idea of her as the freedom of a life in Paris. That she's bound to a fat, old, boorish fiance just makes her that much more forbidden and thus desirable. Ines, meanwhile, is a picture of his current life; comfortable, easy and predictable, asking nothing but granting everything, but still, not what he wants.

One could argue that Pépé's best friend is in fact Inspector Slimane. The two respect each other a great deal, to the point where Slimane makes several friendly visits to the Casbah where he and Pépé sit and chat like old friends (which is pretty much what they are). If Slimane comes by himself he's welcomed as a friend. Raids are impossible, so Slimane doesn't try. In fact, he seems like he'd prefer to leave Pépé where he is, even knowing how miserable Pépé is there.

Among the informants is a weasly little guy named Regis (Gene Lockhart) who will sell out anyone who can pay him. While Pépé knows this, his young associate Pierrot (Johnny Downs) seems to like and even trust Regis, and in the end dies for it. I'll be honest, I didn't think that much of Lockhart's performance, which seems to mostly consist of speaking several lines at once, all with the same inflection and cadence, with an accent that goes in and out. What saves him, almost, is that the other characters seem to be just as annoyed with him as I was. He's kind of a pathetic guy; everyone who knows him seems to understand how much of a creep he is. I will give him this; he sells the scene where his duplicity leading the Pierrot's death is discovered. Without speaking, for once, he just stares in plain panic, knowing his duplicity has caught up with him, and knowing that for once he can't talk his way out of it. It might have been that scene that got him nominated, but I'm glad he didn't win.

It's actually Calleia that I feel deserved the nomination. That he can make Slimane seem utterly competent and in control even as he admits he can't touch Pépé is a testament to his abilities. It kinda sucks that he's ultimately a footnote in Hollywood, remembered only by film buffs. He definitely would have had my vote. I also appreciated the performances of Pépé's gang, especially Carlos the thug (Stanley Fields), who must be the muscle of the operation because he certainly isn't the brains. A running gag is that someone will insult them, and he'll shout "Say that again!", at which point they'll repeat the insult and he'll say, as if satisfied, "...Okay."

Boyer, that great French lover, is fine here. It's not an especially challenging role for him, and seems almost written for him. It's also the inspiration for Looney Toons's Pépé le Pew, which made it hard for me to take his accent seriously. I did understand and relate to Pépé's plight, and enjoyed the exploration of his situation vs. his desires. He never once acknowledges that if the Casbah really is his prison, it's one of his own making through his own deeds, and he seems to genuinely believe he's in love with Gaby, even though he hardly knows her.

In the end, this was an interesting film with a gaggle of nice characters and an interesting story, but it didn't win any Oscars and I can see why; it's good, but not great. I can also see why Casablanca has completely eclipsed it.