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Thanks for the memories!

One of my all time favorites.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This semi-musical remake of "Pepe Le Moko" and the American remake "Algiers" focuses heavily on the obsession for Marta Toren by Casbah thief Pepe (played here by Tony Martin in one of his few real "acting" assignments) and makes the den of thieves and cut throats truly a claustrophobic prison for its hero. He's more than content (at first) to remain in this ghetto, that is until the exotic Toren shows up much to the chagrin of the sultry Yvonne DeCarlo, his long-time mistress who is instantly filled with fury. Algiers inspector Peter Lorre, a pal of LeMoko's in the Casbah, warns him never to leave, but love for Toren will open a Pandora's Box that leads to betrayal and eventually Martin's downfall.The songs barely last a minute each (if that) but two stand out-the Oscar Nominated "For Every Man There's a Woman" and the ensemble "Horray For Love!" which in the 1980's some ABC advertising executive approved for use as its daytime soap promotional music theme. There's also a rare film appearance of the legendary Katherine Dunham (as a café proprietor) and her dance troop which depicts an accurate view of the black population in Northern Africa and the Arab world.Compared to the first two excellent versions, a musical version seems unnecessary, but what has been produced is actually quite enjoyable. Then, there's the lovely DeCarlo, free from Salome's dance and Scherezade's song, getting to sing an embittered verse of "For Every Man There's a Woman" simply to harass the love-lorn Martin. This was long before she got to sing "I'm Still Here!" on Broadway in the original "Follies", and anybody who has heard the cast recording of "Follies" will agree that here she has not been dubbed like other future stars on Broadway (most notably Angela Lansbury) were in movies at this time. DeCarlo is excellent in her cynicism, trying to hide her love for Martin but showing definite heartbreak in her eyes. Lorre is excellent as the law enforcement officer who is actually on LeMoko's side but knows ultimately he'll have no choice but to place Martin under arrest. Toren is lovely but bland, but Martin shows more depth in his character than you'd expect from him.

There were no less than three remakes of the French classic "Pépé Le Moko" by Julien Duvivier: John Cromwell's "Algiers" could not hold a candle to it,but it was not bad and some of the lines of the original screenplay were preserved.It had nonetheless Charles Boyer sing a maudlin song ,which was not a really good idea."Casbah" did the same and had Tony Martin croon two bland songs (even De Carlo pulls a little tune)"Casbah" is a disaster ;the fact that it begins with a bunch of tourists visiting the Casbah with a guide did not bode well .But John Berry completely butchered "PEPE" .The hero is a handsome crooner,it takes lots of imagination to believe he is a thug .And Yvonne De Carlo is not even given the best female part!She has to be content with the part of INES -which was fleshed out whereas it was a secondary character in the original- the mistress the buck is not in love anymore with.She and Peter Lorre are the only positive elements of an appalling film noir. And if it were not enough ,the final ship is replaced by a plane,which is much less romantic .For the record,the third remake is an Italian spoof called "Toto Le Moko".

When Tony Martin was discharged from the Navy he was looking for a vehicle that would reestablish him as a top musical lead in Hollywood and decided that a musical adaption of Algiers was just the ticket. He gathered a good supporting cast and the results, while entertaining were a mixed bag.The best thing that Casbah had going for it was the great musical score that Harold Arlen and Leo Robin wrote for this picture. Four numbers were sung by Martin and co-star Yvonne DeCarlo. Every one of them became a big hit and were a staple of Tony Martin's nightclub act for years. Hooray for Love, What's Good About Goodbye, For Every Man There's A Woman, and It Was Written in the Stars are the songs that Martin does. The last one was identified by Ella Fitzgerald as her favorite Harold Arlen tune and one she insisted on including in her Harold Arlen songbook album. The score greatly benefited Tony Martin's singing career, but he never did reach the heights on screen as a musical leading man. Acting wise Peter Lorre steals the show as the wily, serpentine Inspector Slimane. Lorre's Slimane is charming, cunning, and treacherous as he uses all of his "little gray cells" to bring down arch criminal Pepe Le Moko, played by Martin who is unassailable in the Casbah section of Algiers.Yvonne DeCarlo is the tobacco shop owner who's crushing out on Martin and I'm sure that given the location of the story, one could probably get more than tobacco to smoke from her place. The other lead is the jet setting Marta Toren who Martin is panting after and forces him to make a life or death decision. Toren was extraordinarily beautiful woman in the Hedy Lamarr tradition who after a short stay in Hollywood went back to Europe and died there way too young of leukemia in 1957.If you are a fan of Tony Martin's singing as I am, this is an absolute must. Martin had not yet met and married Cyd Charisse who became wife number two. I think the film might really have been a classic had she done it with Tony. As it is she never did anything together while she was at MGM with her husband and we're the worst for it.

If you don't recall seeing this featured in any of the "That's Entertainment" anthologies, it's because this black-and-white postwar romance with songs is considerably darker and more sophisticated than the usual Hollywood musical. A considerable improvement over the 1938 Americanization of "Pepe Le Moko," the logy Charles Boyer vehicle "Algiers," this not only integrates a few well-chosen musical numbers featuring Martin, Yvonne de Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dancers into the old story, but adds a refreshing note of humor and playfulness. Martin isn't bad at all as the surly, sexy gangster Pepe, who was always one-dimensional anyway. Peter Lorre is the dream Slimane that he should have played ten years earlier in the Boyer film (though Lorre's often credited as being in "Algiers," it was actually Joseph Calleia who played Slimane in that film), and Marta Toren's bittersweet siren is seductively reminiscent of Valli in "The Third Man."