It's interesting to see who Humphrey Bogart is paired up with in his films following the Warner Brothers days. This time out it's Lee J. Cobb as a French colonel and Swedish actress Marta Toren. The story takes place in 1925 Syria, as French forces operating under a United Nations mandate have a difficult time containing Syrian insurgents bent on governing themselves. The comparisons to "Casablanca" are unavoidable, but at least in that film, one has a general sense of history and can lay a finger on the Nazi villain. In "Sirocco", it's difficult to empathize with either side in the conflict as neither is particularly sympathetic or likable; perhaps in hindsight that's one of the strengths of the film.
Bogey's character is a gun runner with a checkered past and without hint of morals or principles. While Rick Blaine might have been a 'citizen of the world', Harry Smith's political convictions don't carry him that far - he's up for the highest bidder. As such, he's not very sympathetic or likable either, receiving a back handed compliment from Toren's Violette - "How can a man so ugly be so handsome". It would have worked the other way around too.
Dingy underground catacombs give the movie a claustrophobic feel as Harry takes it on the lam following a grenade bombing in a café. Violette invites herself along to Cairo, and the way Smith caved in to her request seemed a stretch, it was like no, you can't go, you can't go... oh, alright let's go. The lack of urgency and any remote chemistry between the two wasn't convincing enough for this viewer to have her along for the ride. In any event, you won't think of dried apricots in the same way again.
If the film's ending was meant to capture a particular poignancy, it's meaning was lost on me. Smith's demise seemed senseless and unnecessary, and then the story ends in a heartbeat. The fate of Violette is a loose end which just adds to the unsatisfying conclusion. "Sirocco" could have been much more and certainly had a cast capable of pulling it off, but putting a checkered bow-tie on Bogey was just asking for trouble.
Bogey's character is a gun runner with a checkered past and without hint of morals or principles. While Rick Blaine might have been a 'citizen of the world', Harry Smith's political convictions don't carry him that far - he's up for the highest bidder. As such, he's not very sympathetic or likable either, receiving a back handed compliment from Toren's Violette - "How can a man so ugly be so handsome". It would have worked the other way around too.
Dingy underground catacombs give the movie a claustrophobic feel as Harry takes it on the lam following a grenade bombing in a café. Violette invites herself along to Cairo, and the way Smith caved in to her request seemed a stretch, it was like no, you can't go, you can't go... oh, alright let's go. The lack of urgency and any remote chemistry between the two wasn't convincing enough for this viewer to have her along for the ride. In any event, you won't think of dried apricots in the same way again.
If the film's ending was meant to capture a particular poignancy, it's meaning was lost on me. Smith's demise seemed senseless and unnecessary, and then the story ends in a heartbeat. The fate of Violette is a loose end which just adds to the unsatisfying conclusion. "Sirocco" could have been much more and certainly had a cast capable of pulling it off, but putting a checkered bow-tie on Bogey was just asking for trouble.