Review of Pépé le Moko (1937) by Edith N — 01 May 2012

I should confess something up front: I'm not much of a "Casablanca" fan. For me, it's just a solid B-movie which happens to have two legendary actors and an unusual number of quotable lines.

Released five years before "Casablanca," "Pépé le Moko" obviously influenced its more famous successor. For starters, we get an exotic, North African setting (Algeria, in this case) which might as well be credited as a co-star. There's also an anti-hero, a doomed romance, a notable piano scene, a colorful batch of side characters and, yes, plenty of fezzes. So, three cheers for "Pépé"'s spot in an important cinematic timeline. But this is a foreign movie for people who don't like foreign movies. It may be French, but the filmmaking scans as old Hollywood.

Jean Gabin is Pépé, a master bank robber who's hiding out in the seaside Casbah district. Described onscreen as a "teeming maze," it's a fantastic collection of sets. The homes are chaotically crammed together such that the sky is barely visible, and there doesn't seem to be a pair of perpendicular streets anywhere (or a level surface larger than a bedroom). An opening police briefing serves as a wonderful introduction to the territory, but the plot soon zeroes in on Pépé. He hardly does anything worse than raise his voice during the film, but we're assured that he's a ruthless criminal with a long list of spectacular thefts.

He has a diverse entourage who jockeys for his attention, but most crucial among them are young Pierrot, tough guy Carlos, clumsy informant Regis, embedded cop Slimane (a friendly adversary) and a gypsy girlfriend named Inès. Pépé is a free man, but he's virtually imprisoned anyway. The Casbah is too volatile an area for the police to successfully raid and, much to his frustration, he knows that the only way to avoid arrest is to never leave.

His shaky situation comes to a boil when he meets Gaby, a classy temptress with eyebrows like insect feelers. They have little common ground beyond a fondness for Paris but, naturally, they fall in love in an instant. Because this is a movie. Pépé begins sneaking away from Inès to pursue his true desire, but we realize that following his heart will only lead to a fatal mistake.

Gabin and the claustrophobic snarl of the Casbah are what's most memorable about "Pépé le Moko." The versatile Gabin even croons an unexpected song (seemingly a pattern in '30s French movies). Another musical vignette features an aging gypsy wistfully singing along with a scratchy record she made during her prime -- it's perhaps the most touching scene.

Call it an early film noir, a top example of French Poetic Realism or simply a romantic gangster picture. It's exceptionally well-made but, personally, I found myself longing for the more distinctive quirks of Jean Vigo or René Clair.