Pépé le Moko (1937)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

Henri La Barthe (novel)
Henri La Barthe (scenario) ...

Release Date:

3 March 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Pépé le Moko is a gangster from Paris that hides in Algier's Casbah. In the Casbah, he is safe and is...

Plot Keywords:

Casbah | Police | Gangster | Algeria | Gang

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Pépé le Moko
Gabriel Gabrio	...	Carlos
Saturnin Fabre	...	Le Grand Père
Fernand Charpin	...	Régis (as Charpin)
Lucas Gridoux	...	Inspecteur Slimane
Gilbert Gil	...	Pierrot (as Gilbert-Gil)
Marcel Dalio	...	L'Arbi (as Dalio)
Charles Granval	...	Maxime (as Granval)
Gaston Modot	...	Jimmy
René Bergeron	...	Inspecteur Meunier (as Bergeron)
Paul Escoffier	...	Chef Inspecteur Louvain (as Escoffier)
Roger Legris	...	Max (as Legris)
Jean Témerson	...	Gravère (as Temerson)
Robert Ozanne	...	Gendron
Philippe Richard	...	Janvier

Also Known As:

Les nuits blanches (France) (working title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Arabic

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Algiers, Algeria

Company:

Paris Film

Trivia:

There are two cast lists in the title credits. The first one only list the 8 main players as follows: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Gabriel Gabrio, Lucas Gridoux, Gilbert Gil (as Gilbert-Gil), Lino Noro, Saturnin Fabre and Fernand Charpin (as Charpin). Then a full cast list details all male players along with their respective character names, followed by the female cast (also with the names of their characters)

Goofs:

Continuity: In a scene after Pierrot's death, Pepe is getting progressively drunker and his suit coat opens to reveal more of his shirt. His shirt has the monogram of "J.G." on the pocket; clearly the monogram of the actor (Jean Gabin) and not the character.

Quotes:

Pépé le Moko: Our friend Slimane is funny! He means it! He wants to arrest me! Delusions of the grandeur.
Inspecteur Slimane: I'll get you! It's written!
Pépé le Moko: Sure, sure, sure, sure.
Inspecteur Slimane: You're funny!
Pépé le Moko: How much time will I have?
Inspecteur Slimane: Consult a fortune teller.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in All the Rage (1999)

"Everyone in the world has two fatherlands: his own and Paris".

"Pepe Le Moko" (1937) directed by Julien Duvivier - is a wonderful movie with the great performance from very young Jean Gabin. It just happened that I've seen several movies with him in the older age where he is serious, not very talkative man with the head full of grey hair and I like him in the later movies, too but it was so much fun to see him as Pepe - young, charming, dangerous, smart, brutal, irresistible, and so much in love with Paris that he'd lost forever. As much as I enjoyed the film as an early noir and crime, I think it is about the longing for home, about the nostalgia and as such it is even more interesting, deeper, poignant that just a noir. The celebrated film director Max Ophüls, who knew a lot about nostalgia and immigration said about Paris,

"It offered the shining wet boulevards under the street lights, breakfast in Monmartre with cognac in your glass, coffee and lukewarm brioche, gigolos and prostitutes at night. Everyone in the world has two fatherlands: his own and Paris."

I could not help thinking of his words when I watched the film. There is one scene that almost reduced me to tears - a middle-aged former chanteuse plays one of her records on a gramophone and sings along with her voice that has not changed at all even if she looks nothing like the picture on the wall from the days of her youth. The time may play very nasty jokes with a woman - she may get fat or skinny, lose her teeth and hair but her voice will stay as strong or tender, ringing or melodious as it was in the long gone days that stay forever in her memory. She sings about Paris and there are tears on her eyes and the scene simply can't leave any viewer indifferent. There is another scene - between Pepe and Gaby the girl from Paris with whom Pepe falls in love (Mireille Balin). They talk about Paris remembering different places which are dear to both of them, and in the end, they both named La Place Blanche where they both belong and not in Algiers's Casbah where Pepe is safe and he rules the world of criminals but can't forget the sound of Metro in Paris. When Pepe wants to tell Gaby that he loves her, he tells her that she reminds him of Metro in Paris...

I have not even mentioned how masterfully the film was shot by Julien Duvivier and how well it was acted, how fast it movies, and there are so many wonderful scenes that I have not mentioned...Great, great movie.