Algiers

This is an interesting film, but only in incidental respects; you can see easily enough I don’t much esteem it. The film appears to be well-regarded among reviewers who have not seen, or lamentably, even heard of Duvivier’s Pepe le Moko, and I suppose if you are categorically against foreign cinema you could watch this and see in it a fine film. This is not just a remake (Hollywood churned out countless such things right from its beginnings, and recognizing this it’s hard to demonize them across the board as many do today; it’s in the nature of this beast to cannibalize itself, too) — it is an obsessively constructed duplicate down to the smallest detail. Actors were cast to closely resemble the original players; decors were recreated to match exactly; shots and lighting were studied and emulated. Worse, producers attempted to destroy all copies of Pepe, while directly lifting much of its footage and score and (is it necessary to mention it at this point?) failing to give it formal credit. When I call this film interesting, I mean that it is one of the most crass examples of Hollywood arrogance and I can’t help but admire its sheer perversity.

For all this, the film doesn’t come close to duplicating Pepe’s visual and emotional impact. Besides being put off by something innately monstrous about it, it feels sluggish in translation, perhaps showing signs of over-work and calculation. John Cromwell is a solid director but no inspired artist and the whole thing just feels clumsy. It doesn’t even have the energy to come across as camp, a level on which some viewers do appreciate it, although there are a few unintentionally hilarious bits in the strained melodrama that bring some relief. And after this overlong practical joke, it has the gall to change one thing: Pepe’s ultimate fate, and if this doesn’t undermine his whole character then it certainly says less about it. If I hadn’t already been laughing so hard at Boyer’s bellowed “Gabeee!”s, I’d have cried.

But Charles. Oh, Charlie. Charlie is of course the other interesting thing about Algiers, and after giving up what little hope I began with that it might be a decent film in its own right I placed all my pleasure in his sure hands. This is always a safe bet, and why he’s gradually become one of those guys I’d watch in anything. It’s hard to edge this out over recent swoon-fest All This, & Heaven Too or anything he ever did with darling Irene, but this might just be his all-around sexiest role. Urbane-smooth Boyer is not a natural gangster type and lacks Gabin’s more obvious edge, but he gives the role his all and finds an unexpected roughness and swagger, making his gentler love scenes and (yes!) outbursts of song all the more potent in contrast. Perhaps the manifestation of a sort of Napoleon complex, Boyer’s Pepe is surprisingly violent, and I (surprisingly?) delighted in watching him thrash women around. (My feminism is selective.) Oh yes, there are many things to enjoy in this film, if one only knows where to direct one’s attention. Yes, Boyer “interests” me!