Two years after the release of Casablanca, Director Michael Curtiz conscripted some of the stars from that picture including Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet, Claude Rains and Peter Lorre to act in this World War II propaganda movie focusing on the French resistance to the Nazi run Vichy government primarily set on a small merchant ship, the Ville de Nanacy, headed for the port of Marseille.
Before we arrive at the crux of the story, the Act I exposition goes on for much too long. That takes place somewhere in England-a war correspondent visits a secret Free French Air Base headed by Captain Freycinet (Claude Rains) who recounts in a flashback the tale of five men, ex-convicts, whom are now under his command at the air base.
The flashback reveals how the five men (almost all dead from exposure) are picked up by the aforementioned boat and nursed back to health upon orders of the ship's Captain Malo (Victor Francen). The ex-convicts are all French and were imprisoned at the Cayenne penal colony (aka Devil's Island) in French Guyana enduring hellish conditions until making their escape.
"Passsage" has the unusual distinction of featuring a flashback within a flashback-as Freycinet recounts the overall story to the reporter, he describes how he interviewed the five men who then related their tales in flashbacks.
The five men are revealed to be Petit (George Tobias) , convicted of murdering a policeman while defending his family farm; Garou (Helmut Dantine), who killed his girlfriend in a domestic dispute; Renault (Philip Dorn) , an Army deserter and Marius (Peter Lorre), a safecracker. The leader of the group is Matrac (Humphrey Bogart), an anti-Nazi newspaper editor who was imprisoned by the Vichy government after being falsely accused of murder.
Notably the theme of collaboration among Vichy supporters is emphasized. There is a good scene where a mob of Vichy supporters almost kills Matrac and the viciousness of the guards at the penal colony is also highlighted. And then there's Major Duval (Sydney Greenstreet), the Vichy collaborator whom subsequently leads a short-lived mutiny aboard the Ville de Nancy.
The scenes detailing how the men escape from Devil's Island is interesting, with the ex-convict Grandpère (Vladimir Sokoloff)--still not allowed to leave the Island-finances and arranges the mens' successful exodus. In an act of sacrifice, Grandpère chooses not to take a seat in the canoe that the men use to escape.
The theme of sacrifice is reinforced during the best part of the film, the unsuccessful mutiny on the Ville de Nancy and the failed aerial attack by a German bomber. A young kid onboard is killed when he's hit by machine gun fire from the bomber. This is probably why Matrac (in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention) kills the three German airmen who survived the crash of their plane after Matrac downed it using a machine gun aboard the boat. The unusual scene of pure revenge apparently was permitted to be shown as the hatred of the Nazis was at a highpoint when the film was made.
Undoubtedly Bogart as Matrac got high marks from his audience after downing the German bomber and killing the soldiers. The initial flashback ends after Freycinet finishes his tale (Major Duval is detained along with the other collaborationists and brought to England).
The film's climax takes us back to the airfield in England where a delay in the arrival of the plane containing Matrac (now an airman for the Free French) is a portent shortly thereafter, of ominous things to come. Indeed Matrac was killed during the bombing run so again the theme of necessary sacrifice during war is proferred.
Michele Morgan has little to do as Matrac's wife Paula, stuck back in France with their young son, running outside their rural home to retrieve messages contained in a capsules dropped by Matrac during the bombing runs.
Lorre doesn't have much of a part here as the ex-safecracker but Greenstreet is particularly effective as the villainous Major. An honorable mention for Victor Francen as the stalwart Captain Malo along with the intense patriot Grandpère (Vladimir Sokoloff).
Claude Rains does well as the solid Captain Freycinet. As for Bogart, he gets to play the hero as Matrac but it's really a one-dimensional portrait for obvious propaganda purposes.
Except for Act I, Passage to Marseille manages to be a slightly above average World War II propaganda film.
Before we arrive at the crux of the story, the Act I exposition goes on for much too long. That takes place somewhere in England-a war correspondent visits a secret Free French Air Base headed by Captain Freycinet (Claude Rains) who recounts in a flashback the tale of five men, ex-convicts, whom are now under his command at the air base.
The flashback reveals how the five men (almost all dead from exposure) are picked up by the aforementioned boat and nursed back to health upon orders of the ship's Captain Malo (Victor Francen). The ex-convicts are all French and were imprisoned at the Cayenne penal colony (aka Devil's Island) in French Guyana enduring hellish conditions until making their escape.
"Passsage" has the unusual distinction of featuring a flashback within a flashback-as Freycinet recounts the overall story to the reporter, he describes how he interviewed the five men who then related their tales in flashbacks.
The five men are revealed to be Petit (George Tobias) , convicted of murdering a policeman while defending his family farm; Garou (Helmut Dantine), who killed his girlfriend in a domestic dispute; Renault (Philip Dorn) , an Army deserter and Marius (Peter Lorre), a safecracker. The leader of the group is Matrac (Humphrey Bogart), an anti-Nazi newspaper editor who was imprisoned by the Vichy government after being falsely accused of murder.
Notably the theme of collaboration among Vichy supporters is emphasized. There is a good scene where a mob of Vichy supporters almost kills Matrac and the viciousness of the guards at the penal colony is also highlighted. And then there's Major Duval (Sydney Greenstreet), the Vichy collaborator whom subsequently leads a short-lived mutiny aboard the Ville de Nancy.
The scenes detailing how the men escape from Devil's Island is interesting, with the ex-convict Grandpère (Vladimir Sokoloff)--still not allowed to leave the Island-finances and arranges the mens' successful exodus. In an act of sacrifice, Grandpère chooses not to take a seat in the canoe that the men use to escape.
The theme of sacrifice is reinforced during the best part of the film, the unsuccessful mutiny on the Ville de Nancy and the failed aerial attack by a German bomber. A young kid onboard is killed when he's hit by machine gun fire from the bomber. This is probably why Matrac (in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention) kills the three German airmen who survived the crash of their plane after Matrac downed it using a machine gun aboard the boat. The unusual scene of pure revenge apparently was permitted to be shown as the hatred of the Nazis was at a highpoint when the film was made.
Undoubtedly Bogart as Matrac got high marks from his audience after downing the German bomber and killing the soldiers. The initial flashback ends after Freycinet finishes his tale (Major Duval is detained along with the other collaborationists and brought to England).
The film's climax takes us back to the airfield in England where a delay in the arrival of the plane containing Matrac (now an airman for the Free French) is a portent shortly thereafter, of ominous things to come. Indeed Matrac was killed during the bombing run so again the theme of necessary sacrifice during war is proferred.
Michele Morgan has little to do as Matrac's wife Paula, stuck back in France with their young son, running outside their rural home to retrieve messages contained in a capsules dropped by Matrac during the bombing runs.
Lorre doesn't have much of a part here as the ex-safecracker but Greenstreet is particularly effective as the villainous Major. An honorable mention for Victor Francen as the stalwart Captain Malo along with the intense patriot Grandpère (Vladimir Sokoloff).
Claude Rains does well as the solid Captain Freycinet. As for Bogart, he gets to play the hero as Matrac but it's really a one-dimensional portrait for obvious propaganda purposes.
Except for Act I, Passage to Marseille manages to be a slightly above average World War II propaganda film.