Search - Passage to Marseille - Authentic Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers starring Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michele Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Helmut Dantine & Directed by Michael Curtiz on DVD

One of the best of the "patriotic" war time movies

Andrew Burroughs | new jersey United States | 01/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Distributed in 1944, the movie reassembles many of the original cast from "Casablanca"- Bogart, Lorre, Greenstreet and Rains to produce a fascinating movie. The movie represents a microcosm of 1940 France. Each of the characters brings to life a France conflicted. Bogart plays Matrac a crusading journalist who opposes the policy of appeasement with Nazi Germany. For his pains he is beaten and thrown in prison ("Devil's Island") on a trumped up charge of murder. He is bitter and at the beginning indifferent to France's fate. However, he escapes from Devil Island with the aid of an aging freed prisoner who swears each of the escaping convicts to "fight for France!" Matrac and his fellow convicts escape Cayenne but find themselves stranded at sea in a small canoe. Saved by a French ship carrying nickel ore they find their safety far from secure. On board is a colonial officer played by Sydney Greenstreet. He is the arch typical representative of what would become Vichy- overbearing, mutable in his beliefs, opportunistic. Claude Rains plays a patriotic officer committed to France's eventual victory over the Nazi Germany. While the ship proceeds on its journey home, events in France become apparent to the crew. First Germany invades France, then the news arrives that France's armies are in rout, finally the dismaying news that Marshall Petain had formed a new government in Vichy and had agreed to an armistice with Germany. Suddenly the dynamics change. Quickly Greenstreet and his followers seize control of the ship. They emerge as committed supporters of Vichy. The convicts, the ship's captain and Rains fight to take the ship to England and fight on.

One can watch this movie for sheer enjoyment and adventure. However, one can watch this for its historical value in explaining the deep pain and division that faced France in 1940."

Vive la France. Oh, sorry. No France in '44, only Vichy.

JOHN GODFREY | Milwaukee ,WI USA | 09/22/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A little trickie in the fact that a triple flashback is used. If you're confused, pay attention & watch it again. It's a great story. As the movie unreels: England, a ship at sea, Devils Island, France pre-war & back to war-time England, the one constant thread is Bogart. Check out the cast. You have Raines, Greenstreet, Lorre & of course Bogie. It's the gang from Warner Brothers. With Michael Curtiz directing, you have the atmospherics from Casablanca. Bogies's love in this one is played by the lovely Michelle Morgan, pretty obscure in the US. She even tested for the part of Ilsa in Casablanca. Bogart is a Frenchman, but still world weary, cynical & of course does the right thing.
Convicts escape from the penal colony to go & fight for France. They find themselves adrift at sea & are rescued by a French freighter headed for (where else?) Marseille. Enroute they discover France is no more, it has surrendered unconditionally to Germany. Now what? Excellent war movie, excellent cast.




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