To begin, let's admit there is an elephant in the room. This movie is a remake of a genuine landmark and classic movie, Duvivier's PEPE LE MOKO. It put Poetic Realism on the map; its brooding intensity, lighting, and femme fatale were instrumental in the rise of film noir, and an assortment of great performances is on display. It meant that when Duvivier, Gabin and Dalio came over during the War, they were welcomed with open arms, because dang! People knew who they were. So why remake a classic?
Well, you could ask the same thing about the Peruvians who made it a TV series in the 1960s, and John Berry, who remade it in 1948. Berry is one of the people who had to flee overseas because HUAC persecuted him, and the French welcomed him with open arms, not torches.
Nuff said. Walter Wanger produced, and John Cromwell directed, and James Wong Howe lit the set, because movies are a commercial art, and they knew they had a successful property if they treated it seriously and with respect. Which they did, with exemplary casting, and some light rewriting, because Charles Boyer is a far more cerebral actor than Gabin. In some ways, the rewriting improved the story; Gabin begins knowing he is doomed, but Boyer, despite the maunderings about fate, thinks he is in the catbird seat as the traps close about him. All in all, a very creditable remake, and far better than, say, the Indian remake of CASABLANCA, ARMAAN.
Well, you could ask the same thing about the Peruvians who made it a TV series in the 1960s, and John Berry, who remade it in 1948. Berry is one of the people who had to flee overseas because HUAC persecuted him, and the French welcomed him with open arms, not torches.
Nuff said. Walter Wanger produced, and John Cromwell directed, and James Wong Howe lit the set, because movies are a commercial art, and they knew they had a successful property if they treated it seriously and with respect. Which they did, with exemplary casting, and some light rewriting, because Charles Boyer is a far more cerebral actor than Gabin. In some ways, the rewriting improved the story; Gabin begins knowing he is doomed, but Boyer, despite the maunderings about fate, thinks he is in the catbird seat as the traps close about him. All in all, a very creditable remake, and far better than, say, the Indian remake of CASABLANCA, ARMAAN.