Sometimes movies fall through the cracks.
Sirocco (1951) is a Humphrey Bogart work I’d never seen, whose title was only vaguely familiar. It ran last night on Movies!, channel 113 on Cablevision in NYC. It is set in Damascus in the 1920’s when the occupying French and the natives were at war. The title refers to the hot, dusty wind characteristic of the area. Done in grand film noir style, it tries and largely fails to recapture the magic of
Casablanca (1942). Bogie plays an opportunist, interested only in money, a true antihero, uncompromising until the last few minutes when he grudgingly decides to do something good. That and the fact that the narrative does not take sides are the film’s strengths. Lee J. Cobb and Everett Sloane play French military officers, neither bothering with an accent, Zero Mostel, an Arab, far less hammy than his work at the height of his career. The most interesting aspect was two of the other supporting players, Marta Toren, with whom I was completely unfamiliar, and Gerald Mohr, whose face instantly registered but whose name didn't. Toren, a Swede, touted as "The Next Ingrid Bergman," lit up the screen. Tragically, she died of a brain hemorrhage at 31 in 1957, having appeared in only 31 movies, mostly in Europe, none of which I‘d seen prior to last night. Mohr, a native New Yorker, said to be a Bogie lookalike, was prolific. Felled by a heart attack at 54 in 1968, he still amassed 154 credits, a number which doesn’t include multiple appearances on TV shows. Here are pics of these two who left the stage far too soon:
As I was setting up the floating book shop, a middle-age couple seated on the ledge that surrounds the garden of the building at my normal nook was laughing it up. Soon the gentleman, who had a heavy Russian accent, approached and bought a translation of Greek poetess' Sappho's work and a paperback of the
Kama Sutra, which I hope the pair has put to good use by now. My thanks, and also to the Russian gentleman who longs to improve his understanding of English. He asked for a novel on the level of John Grisham and bought Tom Clancy's
Red Storm Rising.
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
No comments:
Post a Comment