Sirocco (film)

1951 film by Curtis Bernhardt

Sirocco

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Curtis Bernhardt
Screenplay by| A.I. Bezzerides
Hans Jacoby
Based on| Coup de Grace
1936 novel
by Joseph Kessel
Produced by| Robert Lord
Starring| Humphrey Bogart
Cinematography| Burnett Guffey
Edited by| Viola Lawrence
Music by| George Antheil

Production
company

Santana Pictures Corporation

Distributed by| Columbia Pictures

Release date

* June 13, 1951 (1951-06-13)

Running time

| 98 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Box office| $1.3 million (US rentals)[1]

Sirocco is a 1951 American film noir directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Humphrey Bogart.[2]

The film name is derived from Sirocco, a strong wind blowing in the Mediterranean, coming from the Sahara desert. It is hot and dry and is said to make people irritable. The film is set in Syria somewhat east of the wind's paths.

## Plot[edit]

In 1925 Damascus, the native Syrians are engaged in a guerrilla war against the French colonial rule of Syria. Harry Smith is an American black marketeer, secretly selling weapons to the guerillas. As the situation deteriorates, French General LaSalle orders that civilian sympathisers be executed each time his soldiers are killed, but his head of military intelligence, Colonel Feroud, persuades him to alter the plan, and simply detain civilians for 48 hours. Feroud calls in five of the city's profiteers (including Smith and Balukjiaan) and accuses them of selling food at excessive prices. Smith is the only one who appears to be willing to cooperate. After he leaves, they investigate Smith and find he was a war hero in the First World War.

A bomb goes off in a night club where Smith has been eying Violetta whilst drinking with his barber friend Nasir. Violetta is thrown to the floor. Feroud picks her up, but it is Smith who comforts her. Violetta leaves with Feroud and returns to his apartment: it becomes clear that they are lovers.

Feroud presses for negotiations with rebel leader Emir Hassan. LaSalle reluctantly lets him try to arrange a meeting, but refuses to let Feroud make contact directly. A young military officer sent in his place is later found murdered with his throat cut.

Feroud calls in Balukjiaan and accuses him of being a gun-runner. He protests his innocence and suggests Smith instead.

To complicate matters, Harry makes a pass at Feroud's unhappy mistress, Violetta, but she rejects him. Later, she informs Feroud she wants to leave him, but he refuses to let her go.

Harry discovers that Nasir has given his name to the authorities when pressured, and plans his escape. At the same time, Violetta shows up and begs him to take her back to Cairo. Needing to flee himself, he agrees to take her along. However, a French patrol nearly captures Harry. He barely gets away, but has to leave behind his money, and without that, he is soon betrayed to the French.

Facing execution, Harry agrees to help Feroud meet with Hassan. Hassan calls the colonel a fool and dismisses his plea for negotiations, but decides to spare his life when Harry and Feroud's aide Major Leon show up offering a £10,000 ransom. The officers are allowed to leave; Harry is not so lucky. The rebels are angered that he has revealed the location of their headquarters to the French and fear he has sold them out, so they kill him. As Feroud and Leon walk back, they notice that the incessant gunfire and explosions have stopped. Feroud wonders aloud if he has convinced Hassan to be as big a fool.

## Cast[edit]

* Humphrey Bogart as Harry Smith
* Märta Torén as Violetta
* Lee J. Cobb as Col. Feroud
* Everett Sloane as Gen. LaSalle
* Gerald Mohr as Major Leon
* Zero Mostel as Balukjiaan
* Nick Dennis as Nasir Aboud, Harry's assistant
* Onslow Stevens as Emir Hassan
* Ludwig Donath as Flophouse Proprietor
* David Bond as Achmet
* Harry Guardino as Lieutenant Collet (uncredited)
* Harry Cording as Master Sergeant (uncredited)
* Jeff Corey as Feisal (uncredited)

## Critical reception[edit]

Film critic Bosley Crowther lambasted the film and wrote, "Except for a few moody moments in a plaster night-club, called the Moulin Rouge, and some shadowy shots of sloppy Syrians lying around in dingy catacombs, the scene is no more suggestive of Damascus than a Shriners' convention in New Orleans, on which occasion you would see more fezzes than ever show up in this film. For the most part—indeed, for the sole part—Sirocco wafts a torpid tale of a slick, sneering gun-runner proving a painful thorn in a nice French colonel's side."[3]

Critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a mixed review, writing, "I'd always read that it was a half-baked attempt to rekindle some of the ingredients that made Casablanca such a success, and that's true. The setting is Damascus in 1926, when the French Army is battling Syrian insurgents...Sirocco is strictly formula stuff, but it's a perfect example of how Hollywood could take ordinary material and still make it entertaining, through sheer professional polish in the writing, staging, art direction, and casting. Zero Mostel, Gerald Mohr, and Nick Dennis head the colorful supporting cast, who perform well under Curtis Bernhardt's direction."[4]

## References[edit]

1. ^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
2. ^ Sirocco at IMDb
3. ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, June 14, 1951. Last accessed: January 23, 2008.
4. ^ Maltin, Leonard Archived 2008-10-02 at the Wayback Machine. Leonard Maltin Movie Crazy film reviews, 2008. Last accessed: January 23, 2008.

## External links[edit]

* Sirocco at IMDb
* Sirocco at AllMovie
* Sirocco at the TCM Movie Database
* Sirocco film trailer on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Curtis Bernhardt

* Nameless Heroes (1925)
* Orphan of Lowood (1926)
* Torments of the Night (1926)
* Children's Souls Accuse You (1927)
* The Girl with the Five Zeros (1927)
* The Prince of Rogues (1928)
* The Last Fort (1929)
* The Woman One Longs For (1929)
* The Last Company (1930)
* The Man Who Murdered (1931)
* The Rebel (1932)
* The Tunnel (1933)
* The Tunnel (1933)
* Gold in the Street (1934)
* The Beloved Vagabond (1936)
* Crossroads (1938)
* Night in December (1940)
* My Love Came Back (1940)
* Lady with Red Hair (1940)
* Million Dollar Baby (1941)
* Juke Girl (1942)
* Happy Go Lucky (1943)
* Conflict (1945)
* My Reputation (1946)
* Devotion (1946)
* A Stolen Life (1946)
* Possessed (1947)
* High Wall (1947)
* The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
* Payment on Demand (1951)
* Sirocco (1951)
* The Blue Veil (1951)
* The Merry Widow (1952)
* Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
* Beau Brummell (1954)
* Interrupted Melody (1955)
* Gaby (1956)
* Stefanie in Rio (1960)
* Damon and Pythias (1962)
* Kisses for My President (1964)

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