Sirocco (1951)

Posted by Rand

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lee J. Cobb and Marta Toren.
Directed by Curtis Bernhardt, whose other noirs include Conflict (1945), Possessed, and High Wall (both 1947). Written by A.I. Bezzerides, Hans Jacoby, and Joseph Kessel from Kessel's novel, COUP DE GRACE. Bezzerides has a long noir resume with writing credits on noir classics like cult fave Desert Fury (1947), Thieves' Highway (1949), On Dangerous Ground (1952), and Kiss Me Deadly (1955). Jacoby's only other noir, maybe, was Carnival Story (1954). Kessel wrote the French dialogue for the interesting Act of Love (1953). Photographed by Burnett Guffey, with an even longer noir resume than Bezzerides' including, among many others, Night Editor, Framed, Johnny O'Clock, In a Lonely Place, Scandal Sheet, and Human Desire.



SIROCCO opens in Damascus, Syria circa 1925 with a group of French reporters being taken to the headquarters of the Emir Hassan who is the leader of Syrian rebels who seek to oust the French. After his harangue the scene moves to French military headquarters where various local "businessmen", whose businesses are of dubious legality, are waiting for a meeting with Colonel Feroud (Lee J. Cobb). Feroud is a highly principled French officer who desires peace with the Syrians and is determined to end the gun-running trade as a means to achieve his goal. The apparently smartest, and least perturbed, of Feroud's guests is an American named Harry Smith (Humphrey Bogart). He offers no complaint or argument with Feroud's demands, in contrast to the others who whine their displeasure and beg relief from the edicts handed down. Feroud is no fool and recognizes Smith as an adversary worthy of respect.

Smith, we soon learn, is a major supplier of arms to the Syrian rebels led by the Emir Hassan. We also note, in his first meeting with them, that he is not as self-assured with them as he was with the French military. The Syrians are, in fact, as contemptuous of him as he is of the French. He is useful to them only as a means to an end and if his end arrives as a result of their dealings, no tears will be shed. Smith is confident, however, that he can fool the French, make himself invaluable to the Syrians, and continue to smuggle arms into Damascus. His position offers him the possibility of great profit as he seems to have connections which the Syrians cannot gain themselves.

Feroud and Smith find themselves in the same cafe that evening, Feroud in the company of his mistress, Violette (very capably played by the Swedish actress, Marta Toren). Violette is a spoiled and selfish lover and it is clear she is not pleased at living in a war zone. Other French officers are dining in the cafe and are targeted by a flower peddler who plants a bomb at the officers' table. The resulting explosion and confusion brings Smith and a frightened and disoriented Violette together. When Feroud returns to collect his mistress, he finds her with Smith's coat on. He is forced to thank Smith for looking after her. Smith determines to steal the mistress of a French officer and arranges to have an expensive bauble "returned" to her, assuming her cupidity would require her to accept it. Misogyny is not unknown in Bogart's films and the Syrian who supplies the bauble explains to Smith's partner, Nasir (Nick Dennis), how the affair will go. "Each one is different. With each new girl a mist comes before the eyes. Ah, the pleasure you'll have- before the mist rises and you find out she's like all the others."
Violette accepts the bauble from Nasir, but returns it to Smith when he shows up to accept his reward. This scene is quite remarkable in that Violette answers the door clad only in robe and towel. She removes the towel from her head and the scene is played with her hair wet and dissheveled. It's hard to imagine a Hollywood actress doing the same.

The principals meet again that evening in the same cafe, not too seriously damaged from the bombing, and Violette tweaks Feroud about Smith's having filet mignon while she must settle for lamb stew. She sees Smith as a man of influence who can have things she, even as the mistress of a high-ranking French officer, cannot, and that attracts her to him. The fact that his supposed prestige and influence did nothing to prevent him and his partner ("If you eat with the French, you get what the French get!") from nearly being killed in the cafe bombing does not alter her estimation of him. The evening ends with Feroud slapping her to the floor when she reveals Smith's visit that afternoon, with the implication of some rough sex following. Violette than shows up at Smith's apartment to find a way out of Damascus. In another remarkable scene, Violette remarks on what many movie fans have noticed about Bogart. "You are so ugly. How can a man be so ugly and yet so handsome?"
The affair proceeds apace, as does the approaching collision of the arms shipment, Col. Feroud, Feroud's superior, Gen. La Salle (Everett Sloane), a somewhat pompous martinet whose humanity is brought to the surface by Feroud, and the fly in the ointment, Balukjiaan (Zero Mostel), one of those we met in Feroud's office who has decided to betray Harry for profit after ferreting out how the gun shipments are disguised. Events move quickly as Harry discovers the French are on to him and moves quickly to get himself and Violette out of Syria to a life of quiet ease (and shopping) in Cairo. Feroud has discovered Violette's deceit but has decided to sacrifice himself to achieve a ceasefire. Harry's escape is aborted by the French and he is driven back to them on a desperate hope to free himself from the noose by gaining the release of Feroud from the rebels. Smith, Violette, and Feroud each suffer loss in a satisfyingly noir finish.

The reviews for this film are almost universally bad, both at the time of releas and today. Bogart himself called it "a stinker". The reviews also seem generally to accuse SIROCCO of being a pale imitation of Casablanca, with Harry Smith simply a renamed Rick Blaine. This is like complaining about John Wayne making another western in which he plays John Wayne again. And it's not even true. SIROCCO is very different from CASABLANCA and one wonders sometimes what movie some of these people were actually watching. One sets SIROCCO in North Africa, like CASABLANCA, when it actually takes place in the Middle East. Another has Bogart playing a "casino owner", like CASABLANCA, when actually he is a smuggler, there are no casinos in evidence. Smith himself lacks the self assurance of Blaine, he is noticeably uneasy with the Syrian he deals with, and when he learns of his betrayal, at a time when he has succeeded in attaining the company of the beautiful Violette, he is quick to dump her in his sweaty frenzy to get himself clear of Damascus. And, though she manages to attach herself to him as they attempt to flee, he again abandons her, this time successfully, when the French catch up to them. Many of the critics seem to want Smith to be a hero like Blaine, but the lack of a protagonist who is clearly sympathetic is what puts SIROCCO solidly in the noir firmament. As does Burnett Guffey's cinematography. The alleys and caverns of nighttime Damascus are exotic perfection in black and white.

SIROCCO is not one of Bogart's best movies. It's not his best noir. But it's an effort worth taking a look at, especially today with the neo-colonial war taking place next door to Syria and Damascus' own involvement in political intrigue and assassination in Lebanon. And, placed against other films made in the noir style in 1951, it would easily rate in the top ten.

And Gary George, inane and superficial though he may be, agrees with me. So there. (Gary, who cares what a mouldering corpse of a director thinks anyway?)

Rand