Pepe le Moko (1937)
Director:
Julien Duvivier
Writers:
Henri La Barthe (novel), Henri La Barthe(scenario)
Stars:
Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre
Julien Duvivier's lithe and rakish 1937 French gangster drama, one of the most purely enjoyable films ever made, is a doomed modernist romance. It stars the matchless Jean Gabin as a crime master who runs his underground empire in Algiers from the safety of the district known as the Casbah. If he leaves it and ventures farther out into the streets of the lower city, the police, led by the charming weasel Inspector Slimane (Lucas Gridoux), will be waiting. Pépé is not in prison, but he might as well be. When he falls in love with the Parisienne enchantress Gaby (Mireille Balin) — a reminder of all he loves that is beyond his reach — it spells his doom. The lyrical cynicism of "Pépé le Moko" makes it one of the undeniably influential movies of the last century.