Review of Pépé le Moko (1937) by Blind P — 12 Aug 2010

An outstanding and obviously influential piece from its time period that stands with the following Casablanca as a stellar example of colonial storytelling and crime atmosphere that benefits from mostly strong performance and adept pacing to be an entertaining movie to a first time viewer, 73 years after release.

With symbolisms that are easily read, but entirely credible, such as the representation of a Parisian visiting love interest that represents a longing for freedom, there is no point where credibility is stretched.

With the exception of the actress playing "Ines", who is an example of overacting exaggerations, everybody in the film provides entertainment in their roles, even if it is only the smirk painted on a henchman's face with no spoken lines.

Inspector Slimane manages to be such a sickly fawning character that parallels are easy to draw between this actor and the great Peter Lorre.

Expect atmosphere rather than action, and you won't be disappointed with the results.

A small caveat that is understandable given the age is that several scenes are only focused in the center with a significant circle of blur surrounding, and this is a distraction.

I'm getting tired of writing the name Matt the Hat, but you'd do well to visit one of his lists because it is well developed to me now that he is trustworthy in his assessments of quality.