Cheap Algiers (DVD) (Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr) (John Cromwell) Price

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Customer Reviews of Algiers

Undercover
Charles Boyer is a famous jewel thief hiding out in the Casbah, a section of Algiers famous for its winding streets and a perfect place to hide from the police. He has a network of friends who help him, and all is good until a beautiful woman played by Hedy Lamarr enters and makes him remember Paris and love and the things he can no longer have while he is trapped in the Casbah. Boyer is excellent as the edgy, clever thief, making the caged situation of his character very real. Lamarr is beautiful, but a block of wood as an actress. Gene Lockhart is very good as the man who informs on Boyer, while the rest of the supporting cast is adequate. Time has not been good to the prints of this film, and the quality of the image is poor, although that does add to the feeling of being undercover in the Casbah. The director most have come from silent films, because the pacing and certain angles and shots are reminiscent of that style, although they are not appropriate here. The film is worth watching to see Boyer's performance, but it is certainly not a must-see.

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Great movie / average DVD
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed "Algiers". The combination of plot, atmosphere, music, and great character acting moved the film right along and kept my interest. It's easy to see that this is what Warner Brothers had in mind when they made "Casablanca", and while "Casablanca" is a much better film, "Algiers" certainly does not deserve to sink into oblivion.

Charles Boyer does a fine job as a charming Parisian jewel thief hiding out in the "casbah" of Algiers (then a French colony); Hedy Lamarr, as the slumming tourist, is also very good. There are good supporting actors in most of the other parts, including Alan Hale (senior), father of Alan Hale (junior) who was "Skipper" on TV's "Gilligan's Island". Gene Lockhart, as the betrayer, is also a standout.

The "casbah" itself, part North African/part Hollywood, is also a star here. Lots of good set design and camerawork (James Wong Howe). I was curious about the music: it's partially credited to "Mohammed Igarbouchen" (a.k.a. Mohamed Ygerbuchen) and I found that he also did the music for the French "Pépé le Moko" of which "Algiers" was a re-make.

-- A word about the DVD: millions of dollars were not spent to restore picture and sound quality and provide lots of extras. Too bad. This DVD, from Alpha Video, is just the movie. The overall quality is not pristine. There are some scratches on the film and some noise on the soundtrack. A film from 1938 could look and sound a lot better. It looks like what's on the DVD probably came from a made-for-TV print, because the picture is slightly enlarged to completely fill the screen. This is obvious at the beginning when part of the credits text is off the edge of the screen. Still, as of this time, this is your only chance to get "Algiers" on DVD, and Alpha Video offers it at a bargain price; my recommendation is "buy it".

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Refuge, jail, escape, all the same!
That one sure is a great film, not so much in the action or the exotic description of the Casbah of Algiers, but in the impotence of Parisian policemen to get a criminal who has found refuge in this Casbah, in the patience and the certainty of the Algerian policeman who knows the criminal will fall sooner or later, in the method used by this Algerian policeman to trap the criminal out of the Casbah. Just use the simplest trap ever : a Parisian woman who is going to fascinate him in and out of his Casbah. The refuge then becomes a prison. The woman then becomes the bait used by the Algerian policeman. The criminal's girlfriend becomes the informer of the Algerian policeman, and this is not a crime since he is Algerian and not French and since she is preventing her lover from falling into the arms of what has to be a trap or some bait and not a prize. And then, when taken and handcuffed, he will have to get himself shot in the back by some French policeman, under the unmoved and unmoving eye of the Algerian policeman to escape the prison that is awaiting him in Paris. Hence it is the story of a refuge turned into a prison, of an affair turned into a trap and of an arrest turned into an escape. Pepe le Moko is the best after all and no one can ever trap him and put him or keep him in any kind of jail.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU