Wednesday 15 February 2012

Travels With My Film-Life: Algiers, 1937

Vraiment mes amis. Here we be.... hiding in the courtyards and alleyways of the old Casbah.

It's the French classic crime thriller "Pepe le Moko" directed by Julien Duvivier and starring the wonderful Jean Gabin.

Pepe is the gangster thief supreme, pursued by the police and beautiful women alike. All life is here in The Casbah - turncoats, snitches, fences, molls... loyalty and treachery. Les Flics pile out of charabancs with guns blazing to shoot Pepe. They try to trick him out. But Pepe is smart and he has his loyal crew. Then a beautiful woman appears....
Aah Pepe! Watch out!

This film is a treat and bits of it make me think... "Ah. So that's where Orson Welles got that look and sound for "Touch of Evil"...Mmmn..."

Do you ever experience double nostalgia?
Cos I see this film and I's feelin nostalgia for a time I've never lived in.... and then I's feelin nostalgia for my youthy days in London.... French films at the NFT and The Academy, Oxford St.

Oh ce qu'est un film merveilleux! Watch the trailer here over at YouTube.

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