A wanted jewel thief ensconced in the Casbah meets a beautiful woman who makes him long for an escape.
Algiers 1938 HD | Mystery, romance & drama film directed by John Cromwell | Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie and Hedy Lamarr
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Movie Info
Gaby (Hedy Lamarr) arrives in Algiers engaged to a fat, vulgar borderline-loathsome older man who clearly regards her as a trophy bought and paid for. Why she needed this creep isn’t clear. What is clear is her falling in love with the jewel thief Pepe Le Moko (Charles Boyer) who abandons the devoted and clinging Ines (Sigrid Gurie) for this right-off-the-boat hothouse beauty. A Parisian police official (Walter Kingsford) is in Algiers determined to collar Pepe. His forays into the casbah meet with no success and quiet derision from both the locals and some of the French police who understand that the casbah is honeycombed with escape routes and populated with folks eager to thwart the gendarmerie.
Algiers is a 1938 American drama film directed by John Cromwell (director) and starring Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie, and Hedy Lamarr. Written by John Howard Lawson, the film is about a notorious French jewel thief hiding in the labyrinthine native quarter of Algiers known as the Casbah. Feeling imprisoned by his self-imposed exile, he is drawn out of hiding by a beautiful French tourist who reminds him of happier times in Paris. The Walter Wanger production was a remake of the 1937 successful French film Pépé le Moko, which derived its plot from the Henri La Barthe novel of the same name.
Algiers was a sensation because it was the first Hollywood film starring Hedy Lamarr, whose stunning beauty became the main feature for film audiences. The film is notable as one of the sources of inspiration to the screenwriters of the 1942 Warner Bros. film Casablanca (film) who wrote it with Hedy Lamarr in mind as the original female lead. According to the Turner Classic Movie channel, Charles Boyer’s depiction of the main character, Pepe Le Moko, was the inspiration for the Warner Bros. animated character, Pepe Le Pew. In 1966, the film entered the List of films in the public domain in the United States due to the claimants failure to renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.
Plot
Pepe Le Moko (Boyer) is a notorious thief, who escaped from France after his last great heist to Algeria. After his escape, Moko became a resident and leader of the immense Casbah, or “native quarter,” of Algiers. French officials arrive insisting on Pepe’s capture are met with unfazed local detectives, led by Inspector Slimane (Calleia), who are biding their time. Meanwhile, Pepe begins to feel increasingly trapped in his prison-like stronghold, a feeling which intensifies after meeting the beautiful Gaby (Lamarr), who is visiting from France. His love for Gaby soon arouses the jealousy of Ines (Gurie), Pepe’s Algerian mistress.
Cast
- Charles Boyer as Pepe le Moko
- Sigrid Gurie as Ines
- Hedy Lamarr as Gaby
- Joseph Calleia as Inspector Slimane
- Alan Hale, Sr. as Grandpere
- Gene Lockhart as Regis
- Walter Kingsford as Chef Inspector Louvain
- Paul Harvey (actor) as Commissioner Janvier
- Stanley Fields (actor) as Carlos
- Johnny Downs as Pierrot
- Charles D. Brown as Max
- Robert Greig as Giraux
- Leonid Kinskey as L’Arbi
- Joan Woodbury as Aicha
- Nina Koshetz as Tania
Rewards
- Academy Award for Best Actor (nomination) – Charles Boyer
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (nomination) – Gene Lockhart
- Academy Award for Best Art Direction (nomination) – Alexander Toluboff
- Academy Award for Best Cinematography (nomination) – James Wong Howe
In popular culture
The 1938 movie Algiers was most Americans’ introduction to the picturesque alleys and souks of the Casbah. It was also the inspiration for the 1942 Warner Brothers movie Casablanca (film) which was written specifically for Hedy Lamarr in the female lead role. However, MGM used to release Hedy Lamarr despite all efforts by Warner Brothers.
The invitation “Come with me to the Casbah,” which was heard in trailers for Algiers but not in the film itself, became an exaggerated romantic overture promising exoticism and mystery, largely owing to its use by Looney Tunes cartoon character Pepé Le Pew, himself a spoof of Pépé le Moko. The amorous skunk used “Come with me to ze Casbah” as a pickup line. In 1954, the Looney Tunes cartoon The Cats Bah specifically spoofed Algiers, with the skunk enthusiastically declaring to Penelope the Cat, “Do not come with me to ze Casbah…
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