Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

wmschoell This is basically a scene by scene copy of the previous year's French film "Pepe le Moko" starring Jean Gabin. Nevertheless, this version has the edge on the French film because of the actors -- Boyer is terrific as always, and even Lamarr makes her character more likable than in the original. The script changes are mostly minor. A nice musical score helps this version a lot as well. Remade as "Casbah" with Tony Martin in the Boyer role!

Cristi_Ciopron 'Casbah, a melting pot for all the sins of the world'. This definition of one of Algiers' quarters, given in the movie, could apply to Antioch, Alexandria or Constantinople at the height of their power, the great antique and medieval capitals of the corruption, Molochs of the criminality and excesses.I liked ALGIERS, this short treatise of underworld violence and vices, this endearing and feverish lowbrow exotic fantasy, I have found it to be appealing and exciting and, on its level, well—made.As a treatise of fancy sociology thought of in the most trite clichés, ALGIERS, a fruit of the mellow '30s (made in '38), glamorizes amply, in a heightened tone and unsubtle, unpretentious style of film-making, an exotic place, in a manner common in the era's flicks, exalting or exhaling vast projections of what the Tyr, Sidon, Sodom, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria were thought/ supposed to have been in the legendary past, metropolis of pleasure, vice and corruption, the rule of the violence and base passions—part of those blessed ('38—well, on the brink of the war …) times' dream of adventure, here in the popular, lowbrow version; with ALGIERS we take a step into Casbah, the labyrinthine quarter where Pépé rules. ALGIERS is appealing kitsch, it doesn't address the heart, but the taste for an exciting show; labeled as the American remake of a French movie, it boasts a very chic French leading man, the famous and understandably respected Boyer (still _watchable, as a soft—spoken oldster, in a '60s melodrama like BAREFOOT IN THE PARK), here as a tough guy—Pépé, a mastermind of the underworld.As Pépé, Boyer replaces Gabin; but he reminds of Bogart.ALGIERS is a work of popular glamorization and almanac wisdom; Casbah is glamorized, Pépé is glamorized. There are things to be admired in this flick. It has gusto and energy. I liked the movie's score. The cinematography might surprise by its quality and atmosphere.One thing in this movie is subtle, though—Boyer's persona, Boyer does a venomous, a bit charming and insidious Pépé; he looks like the upgraded, boosted and cleaner version of Bogart. Or was it Bogart who looked like a lousy, dirty Boyer?

lewis-51 This is a great movie well worth watching. The interaction between the leads, Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, is nothing short of beautiful.Other people have described the plot, the setting, and the great photography, so I will skip that. Some have written here that Algiers compares well to "Casablanca." I can't agree with that. This movie doesn't have the heroism, the larger than life situation, the love triangle. For that reason, I can't rate it more than 8 (while I rate Casablanca a 10+).As has also been noted here, Algiers is a remake of the French movie "Pepe Le Moko". I have not seen that movie. I'm sure I will someday. Some people have written that the French movie is better, and that the lead actor there, Gabin, is more believable as a gangster. That may well be true; I will not argue it. It doesn't matter. Boyer is excellent here. His personna is completely believable to me, and, frankly, I don't much care how closely he matches authentic French gangsters. No wonder so may female movie fans fell in love with him! The movie is made even more appealing by the secondary characters. Gene Lockart's informer is well acted. Joseph Calleia does a great job as the "native" detective who has easy access to the Casbah. Sigrid Gurie is great as the jealous courtesan. Alan Hale Sr. is great as the witty erudite criminal. The rough fellow who always says "OK" was fun. I also enjoyed the slim bodyguard dressed in white who never said anything; not sure which actor this is.If there is a flaw, it is maybe an overall dearth of intensity. Maybe this is a question of evolving movie-making style, a difference of eras. I think we expect criminals these days to show a lot of anger, to hear a lot of nasty snarling dialogue. You aren't going to hear that in this movie.And frankly I don't care because this is not a crime drama, it's a tragic love story. Which brings us to the main reason to see this movie. Hedy Lamarr. What can I say? "Wow" is hardly sufficient. "Holy @#!&%" doesn't help much. Of all the beautiful actresses there have been, of all the kinds of beauty -- cute, girl-next-door, classic, sultry, innocent, exotic, hot, mysterious, haughty, bombshell, va-va-voom, ethereal -- Hedy Lamarr had the best. No she didn't have the sexiest body; she was actually a little thin. She wasn't the oh-so-appealing cute type like Meg Ryan, or the sexy bombshell like Marilyn Monroe, or the exotic Greta Garbo. This is pure human female beauty. And it's not just some portrait or statue. She speaks, she smiles, she moves. There are at least three scenes of conversations with Charles Boyer that I just can't watch often enough. By direction or not, she slightly underacts. It's been said that she really wasn't that good at acting. Could be; again, who cares? She communicates plenty to me.So applaud it for the plot, the photography, the great secondary characters, the wonderful Charles Boyer. And drink a toast to Hedy Lamarr.

Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71) Here is the film (and the man) which was the inspiration for my favorite Looney Tunes character Pepe Le Pew. This film starring Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie, and Hedy Lamarr. The Walter Wanger production was a remake of the successful 1937 French film Pépé le Moko, which derived its plot from the Henri La Barthe novel of the same name. John Howard Lawson wrote the screenplay. Though admittedly, I had never read the novel or seen the French film. The movie was a sensation because it was the first Hollywood film starring Hedy Lamarr whose stunning beauty became the main feature for moviegoers. The story is like in the original French film (and novel), about a beautiful rich girl Gabrielle (Gaby) ,who is on holiday in Algiers with her fiancé, and meets and falls in love with the notorious jewel thief Pepe le Moko, has for two years lived in, and virtually ruled, the mazelike, impenetrable Casbah, the "native quarter" of Algiers. I had heard of the film and I just had see this film. So I had taped on TCM and I watched it and I love it. And you know that song that was played (and sung) in the film "C'est la vie" it's kind of catchy.