Pepe le Moko [Criterion Collection]

Director: Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier

Overview

"Julien Duvivier's classic 1937 film Pepe le Moco gets the treatment it so richly deserves from Criterion. The film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The French soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a 1963 interview with the director, clips from a television tribute to actor Jean Gabin, excerpts from a British Film Institute study of the film, a featurette on how the film affected popular French culture, a comparison of the film with the American version of the same story (Algiers), the original theatrical trailer, and an essay by film critic Michael Atkinson. This is the kind of release that has made Criterion one of the premiere names in home video."

Product Details

Release Date:	03/21/2010
UPC:	0037429173329
Original Release:	1937
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	17,983

Special Features

New high-definition digital transfer made from the extensive 35mm restoration; 1962 French television interview with director Julien Duvivier; Excerpts from the 1978 television documentary "Remembering Jean Gabin"; Excerpts from Ginette Vincendeau's BFI Classics study of "Pépé le Moko," addressing the historical background of the film's setting and the French crime novel genre; A study of the lasting influence of "Pépé" on popular culture, including a special video comparison between "Pépé" and the 1978 U.S. remake "Algiers"; Essay by film critic Michael Atkinson; Original theatrical trailer; New and improved English subtitle translation; Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jean Gabin	Pepe le Moko
Mireille Balin	Gaby Gould
Line Noro	Ines
Gabriel Gabrio	Carlos
Louis Gridoux	Insp. Slimane,Insp. Slimane
Fernand Charpin	Regis
Saturnin Fabre	Grandfather
Gilbert Gil	Pierrot
Roger Legris	Max
Gaston Modot	Jimmy
Marcel Dalio	L'Arbi
Frehel	Tania
Olga Lord	Aicha
Renee Carl	Mother Tarte
Rene Bergeron	Insp. Meunier
Charles Granval	Maxime Kleep
Philippe Richard	Insp. Janvier,Inspector Janvier
Paul Escoffier	Commissioner Louvain
Robert Ozanne	Gendron
Georges Peclet	Barsac
Frank Maurice	An Inspector
Jean Temerson	Gravere
Mireille Ballin	Actor
Mohamed Yguerbouchen	Composer
Vincent Scotto	Composer

Technical Credits

Julien Duvivier

Henri Jeanson

Roger D'Ashelbe

Jacques Costant

Julien Duvivier	Director,Screenwriter
Henri Jeanson	Screenwriter
Raymond Hakim	Producer,Producer
Roger D'Ashelbe	Screenwriter
Jacques Costant	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

This Algiers-set thriller truly belongs to its eponymous antihero, who is played with resilient gallows charm by hard-eyed, tight-lipped French actor Jean Gabin. Pepé is an expatriate thief who, cornered in the Casbah, yearns for the air of Paris. All the while, he tries to keep his gang tethered. He leaves one woman only to tumble madly for a ravishing tourist (Mireille Balin), who draws him, à la Dillinger, into a fatal hail of bullets. As hard to escape as the femme fatale here is the hell-on-earth explored by director Julien Duvivier's snaking camera. Duvivier’s Casbah is a death pit chock-full of latticed shadows, smoky intrigues, and gritty wit. As the quintessence of that fatalistic form known as Poetic Realism, Pepé le Moko is an ominous masterwork that crucially paved the way for American film noir. The Criterion Collection DVD features a newly restored print plus a wide variety of interviews and other background information on Gabin and the film.