Casbah

source: Casbah

Moviecut—Casbah

After Tony Martin was discharged from the Navy in 1942, and not under the most favorable circumstances, he tried to rekindle his then dormant career as a movie star by founding a production company. Having raised some money on his own, he convinced Universal to put up the rest. To showcase his talents as an actor/singer, he chose to remake a remake of a 1937 "Pepe Le Moko," a French film with Jean Gabin that a year later became the American "Algiers" with Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr. ("Come wiz me to ze Casbah.") Martin was not a bad actor, a sort of sexier Ronny Reagan who could sing, but as a producer he (or the director John Berry) made a fatal mistake of trying to mix two genres. This 1948 film is neither melodrama nor musical, but something odd in between. The tunes by the great Harold Arlen, one of which ("For Every Man There is a Woman") is now a classic, don't seem to fit in with the rest of the film. Listening to Martin croon in the midst of an otherwise dramatic scene is like having Rick burst into a chorus of "As Time Goes By" to remind Ilsa of how much he once loved her before he ended up in Casablanca. The Swedish actress Marta Toren, then being groomed to be the next Bergman but looking more like Alida Valli, is lovely and perfectly acceptable in the Lamarr role, but although she could act she often speaks as if she was being dubbed by Zsa Zsa Gabor. Yvonne De Carlo, a great beauty and a fine actress whose talents were never fully recognized, is her luscious self as the hometown girl Martin discards for the sexy tourist. Eartha Kitt, then a member of Katherine Dunham's company featured in the film, can be seen very briefly at approx. 1:19:20 dancing in and out of frame. (This was her first movie.) The greatest plus in the film is, as always, the presence of the incomparable villain and charmer Peter Lorre as the police inspector. Unlike Tony Martin, Lorre could do no wrong. To give Tony his due, in the same year this film was made and flopped at the box-office, the baritone ended up marrying Cyd Charisse. Excellent recompense.

In 1937, the French film "Pépé le Moko" debuted. Hollywood was so taken with it that they remade it a year later as "Algiers". Inexplicably, they remade it again in 1948. I say inexplicably because the casting of singer Tony Martin in the lead just made little sense as he was about as unlike Jean Gabin and Charles Boyer (in the previous films) as you could get! And, as a result of this miscasting, the film was a huge mistake. The story is about a criminal boss in Algiers named Pépé le Moko (Tony Martin). He's cool but not at all in a way like other incarnations of the character. Much of this was because he seemed about as French or North African as borscht. Much of it was because he'd periodically break into song. None of this nonsense was particularly interesting....and I found myself wanting to turn off the movie after about 20 minutes. The only thing that seemed interesting was seeing Peter Lorre cast against type...and in this case as a policeman! Overall, a dull affair and I suggest you instead see either of the earlier versions and not waste your time with this one.

If you don't recall seeing this featured in any of the "That's Entertainment" anthologies, it's because this black-and-white postwar romance with songs is considerably darker and more sophisticated than the usual Hollywood musical. A considerable improvement over the 1938 Americanization of "Pepe Le Moko," the logy Charles Boyer vehicle "Algiers," this not only integrates a few well-chosen musical numbers featuring Martin, Yvonne de Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dancers into the old story, but adds a refreshing note of humor and playfulness. Martin isn't bad at all as the surly, sexy gangster Pepe, who was always one-dimensional anyway. Peter Lorre is the dream Slimane that he should have played ten years earlier in the Boyer film (though Lorre's often credited as being in "Algiers," it was actually Joseph Calleia who played Slimane in that film), and Marta Toren's bittersweet siren is seductively reminiscent of Valli in "The Third Man."

I watched this years ago on TV with a friend who swore that was NOT Yvonne DeCarlo playing the spitfire Inez...I almost lost my mind! Yvonne is unintentionally hilarious in this campy musical remake of 1938's "Algiers", featuring big, bland Tony Martin as Pepe Le Moko (for those who don't know, Tony Martin was even more bland than Perry Como and Andy Williams, sort of a Dean Martin knock-off without any of Dino's naughty charm). Pepe is a jewel thief caught between two women, and he occasionally breaks out into song (not bad songs mind you, as they were written by the famous Harold Arlen). Still, viewers not familiar with the picture's background might think they've stumbled upon a musical version of "Casablanca". *1/2 from ****

I've watched this movie many, many times and I truly love it. Tony Martin, as Pepe LeMoko, plays a suave, fascinating and very sexy jewel thief who is wanted by the police but is protected by everyone in the Casbah to the point that they will not let the police arrest Pepe and remove him from its confines. Marta Toren, in the role of Gaby, is a very beautiful, classy and mysterious lady visiting the Casbah who meets Pepe. Pepe finds her so extremely different from anyone he has ever met in the Casbah and she also finds him fascinating (what women wouldn't?). It's easy to see how they become attracted to each other and the sparks start flying. Yvonne DeCarlo plays Inez, Pepe's long-time girlfriend who tries to break up Pepe and his new interest. The supporting cast, including Peter Lorre and Thomas Gomez, are well-cast and believable in their roles. The music is wonderful and Tony Martin's voice is too. It's truly one of my favorite movies of that era.

It is not a bad remake of Julien Duvivier's classic and incomparable "Pepé le Moko" with Jean Gabin from 1937 with even some advantages to the French original, chiefly Marta Toren as the beautiful lady from abroad and home and Peter Lorre as the police inspector in one of his most suavely amiable and abominable performances; but the songs are quite good also and Tony Martin, although inferior to Jean Gabin, is convincing and charming enough. Another asset is Yvonne de Carlo as Inez, and like in "Pepé le Moko" you wonder why he doesn't prefer her to the alien lady as a much more rational and sensible option; but it's in his nature to choose challenge to comfort. There is very little to add, if you have seen "Pepé le Moko" you have seen it all, the drama is exactly the same here with its regrettable and overwhelmingly sad finale, but Julien Duvivier makes it both more realistic, more poetic and more overwhelming. What Tony Martin lacks is the tragic touch of Jean Gabin with his poignant stigma.

Pepe le Moko (Tony Martin) is wanted by the French and local police in Algeria where he has his hideout in the Casbah. However in order to get him, the police have to infiltrate the Casbah to bring him in. Casbah is the Algerian word for fortress and that is the problem that the police have. They have 2 approaches - Louvain (Thomas Gomez) takes a direct route by storming in and arresting him - this fails as it has on every occasion before - because everyone in the Casbah is on Pepe's side and he always escapes. Slimane (Peter Lorre) from the local police is more streetwise and befriends Pepe while maintaining that he will one day arrest him. The 2 opposite thinking inspectors need to collude to bring him out of the Casbah in order to make the arrest. They do this by sending an old prison-friend Carlo (Douglas Dick) to betray him and lure him out with a love interest Gaby (Marta Toren). Yvonne de Carlo who plays Inez, Pepe's girlfriend, is my favourite of the cast with Peter Lorre and Thomas Gomaz also standing out. Yvonne de Carlo also manages to pull off singing her song and turns it into one of the memorable scenes as she mocks Pepe's behaviour in it. The other moments of singing are not necessary with Tony Martin bursting randomly into song and providing moments of hilarity as he does so - "Oh no - he's singing again. What for?" This film has a great setting and it's a shame that the two lead women did not have a scene together where they could confront each other. There is some crazy chicken-killing voodoo ritual dancing that is also thrown into the mix and despite the ending being utterly unconvincing, this is an enjoyable film.

This semi-musical remake of "Pepe Le Moko" and the American remake "Algiers" focuses heavily on the obsession for Marta Toren by Casbah thief Pepe (played here by Tony Martin in one of his few real "acting" assignments) and makes the den of thieves and cut throats truly a claustrophobic prison for its hero. He's more than content (at first) to remain in this ghetto, that is until the exotic Toren shows up much to the chagrin of the sultry Yvonne DeCarlo, his long-time mistress who is instantly filled with fury. Algiers inspector Peter Lorre, a pal of LeMoko's in the Casbah, warns him never to leave, but love for Toren will open a Pandora's Box that leads to betrayal and eventually Martin's downfall. The songs barely last a minute each (if that) but two stand out-the Oscar Nominated "For Every Man There's a Woman" and the ensemble "Horray For Love!" which in the 1980's some ABC advertising executive approved for use as its daytime soap promotional music theme. There's also a rare film appearance of the legendary Katherine Dunham (as a café proprietor) and her dance troop which depicts an accurate view of the black population in Northern Africa and the Arab world. Compared to the first two excellent versions, a musical version seems unnecessary, but what has been produced is actually quite enjoyable. Then, there's the lovely DeCarlo, free from Salome's dance and Scherezade's song, getting to sing an embittered verse of "For Every Man There's a Woman" simply to harass the love-lorn Martin. This was long before she got to sing "I'm Still Here!" on Broadway in the original "Follies", and anybody who has heard the cast recording of "Follies" will agree that here she has not been dubbed like other future stars on Broadway (most notably Angela Lansbury) were in movies at this time. DeCarlo is excellent in her cynicism, trying to hide her love for Martin but showing definite heartbreak in her eyes. Lorre is excellent as the law enforcement officer who is actually on LeMoko's side but knows ultimately he'll have no choice but to place Martin under arrest. Toren is lovely but bland, but Martin shows more depth in his character than you'd expect from him.