Sirocco

1951

98 Min

Currently 2.6/5 Stars.
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DIR Curtis Bernhardt

CAST Humphrey Bogart, Märta Torén, Lee J. Cobb, Everett Sloane, Gerald Mohr, Zero Mostel, Nick Dennis, Onslow Stevens, Ludwig Donath

Berlinale (Retrospective)

Synopsis

This classic 1950s thriller tells the story of Harry Smith (Humphrey Bogart), a fearless gunrunner who trades weapons under Emir Hassan (Onslow Stevens) in Damascus while the French and Syrians wage war in 1925 — all the while French Col. Feroud (Lee J. Cobb) is hot on his trail. His pursuit grows all the more intense when Harry, in spite of himself, falls in love with Feroud’s mistress, Violette (Marta Toren).

Director

Curtis Bernhardt

If Curtis Bernhardt is a relative unknown, it’s because he didn’t direct his first Hollywood feature until 1940 at the age of 41. Bernhardt worked for years in Germany until his Jewish heritage made living there impossible by 1933, making a harrowing underground escape to France after being arrested by the Gestapo. With Europe plunging into WW2, he left for America in 1939. Despite his limited grasp of the English language, he was offered seven-year contracts at both Warner Brothers and MGM, largely on the strength of Carrefour (1936), that proved so enduring that it was ultimately remade as Dead Man’s Shoes (1938) in the UK, and as Crossroads (1942) by MGM. Most émigrés would have jumped at MGM’s offer, but Berhardt went with Warner’s, favoring the studio’s reputation for hard-boiled realism. His career in Hollywood began with a false start; after working on his first assignment he fell ill and was reassigned an Olivia de Havilland vehicle, My Love Came… read more

If Curtis Bernhardt is a relative unknown, it’s because he didn’t direct his first Hollywood feature until 1940 at the age of 41. Bernhardt worked for years in Germany until his Jewish heritage made living there impossible by 1933, making a harrowing underground escape to France after being arrested by the Gestapo. With Europe plunging into WW2, he left for America in 1939. Despite his limited grasp of the English language, he was offered seven-year contracts at both Warner Brothers and MGM, largely on the strength of Carrefour (1936), that proved so enduring that it was ultimately remade as Dead Man’s Shoes (1938) in the UK, and as Crossroads (1942) by MGM. Most émigrés would have jumped at MGM’s offer, but Berhardt went with Warner’s, favoring the studio’s reputation for hard-boiled realism. His career in Hollywood began with a false start; after working on his first assignment he fell ill and was reassigned an Olivia de Havilland vehicle, My Love Came Back (1940) that gained him good notices. Bernhardt rapidly achieved a reputation as a woman’s director with occasional forays into suspense with varied results. He directed one of Humphrey Bogart’s least popular films, Conflict (1945), burdened by ludicrous plot contrivances but soon snapped back with a winner with My Reputation (1946), a melodrama starring Barbara Stanwyck. He misfired with the critically panned Devotion (1946) and would end his contract with the studio after three more films in 1947 and moved to briefly to MGM. Ironically, he would later look back fondly upon Warner’s assembly line production methods when compared to MGM, where he felt compelled do bend to the whims of it’s stars and serve at the behest of Louis B. Mayer. But Berhardt managed to make two above-average films during his short stay at Metro: the suspenseful High Wall (1947) starring Robert Taylor in one of his best mid-career roles, and The Doctor and the Girl (1949), starring the likable Glenn Ford. He moved to RKO, which was entering it’s final chaotic decade, directing The Blue Veil (1951), a remake of a French film. He did a one-shot gig at Columbia, directing Bogie once again in the hopelessly set-bound Sirocco (1951) and rounded out the remainder of the 1950’s back at MGM, but ending his Hollywood career with the middling comedy, Kisses For My President (1964) at Warner’s. He retired from directing due to illness in the mid-1960’s. —IMDb