The exotic locale and mysterious characters invite the inevitable comparison to "Casablanca", though my reading of other reviews on this board would suggest that the more appropriate comparison to Bogart's film would be the French original, "Pepe le Moko". Since I haven't seen that one (at least yet), I'll have to confine my comments strictly to "Algiers".
To my mind, the picture doesn't approach the all around sense of romantic intrigue offered by Bogey and Bergman, but in the interest of full disclosure, "Casablanca" is my favorite film of all time, so one could say I have some bias. Leonid Kinskey is but the thinnest of threads between the pictures, having appeared in both, and it's interesting how similar his mannerisms and affectations are here even though he's portraying an Arab. The film probably could have used more signature character types like Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains, because even though Pepe's goons seemed a rugged bunch, they just didn't appear charismatic enough for the Casbah, 'a melting pot for all the sins of the Earth'. I guess since I've seen Alan Hale and Gene Lockhart in so many other pictures, I couldn't shake the idea that they were just terribly miscast here.
As for the ladies, Hedy Lamarr always succeeds in creating romantic tension in her films, but for my money (at least in this picture), Pepe needed to have his head examined for turning his back on Sigrid Gurie's Ines. I'm pretty sure 'smokin' hot' was never used to describe an actress in the Thirties, but it's the 2010's now, and that's how I see it. I get the whole business about Pepe feeling trapped for two years in the Casbah, and feeling lucky enough to make a break for it, but it didn't seem so bad that Ines was around to offer a shoulder and whatever else to ease the boredom.
Anyway, I'll be putting in my request at the local library for a copy of "Pepe le Moko" to compare and contrast as other reviewers have done. On balance though, "Algiers" has it's merits as an intriguing story with an exotic flair. Given the finale, one is led to consider that if Mister Rick and Ilsa Lund would always have Paris, the story of Pepe and Gaby leads one to ask what might have been.
To my mind, the picture doesn't approach the all around sense of romantic intrigue offered by Bogey and Bergman, but in the interest of full disclosure, "Casablanca" is my favorite film of all time, so one could say I have some bias. Leonid Kinskey is but the thinnest of threads between the pictures, having appeared in both, and it's interesting how similar his mannerisms and affectations are here even though he's portraying an Arab. The film probably could have used more signature character types like Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains, because even though Pepe's goons seemed a rugged bunch, they just didn't appear charismatic enough for the Casbah, 'a melting pot for all the sins of the Earth'. I guess since I've seen Alan Hale and Gene Lockhart in so many other pictures, I couldn't shake the idea that they were just terribly miscast here.
As for the ladies, Hedy Lamarr always succeeds in creating romantic tension in her films, but for my money (at least in this picture), Pepe needed to have his head examined for turning his back on Sigrid Gurie's Ines. I'm pretty sure 'smokin' hot' was never used to describe an actress in the Thirties, but it's the 2010's now, and that's how I see it. I get the whole business about Pepe feeling trapped for two years in the Casbah, and feeling lucky enough to make a break for it, but it didn't seem so bad that Ines was around to offer a shoulder and whatever else to ease the boredom.
Anyway, I'll be putting in my request at the local library for a copy of "Pepe le Moko" to compare and contrast as other reviewers have done. On balance though, "Algiers" has it's merits as an intriguing story with an exotic flair. Given the finale, one is led to consider that if Mister Rick and Ilsa Lund would always have Paris, the story of Pepe and Gaby leads one to ask what might have been.