Sirocco

One of Humphrey Bogart's worst films, Sirocco (1951) is borderline unwatchable. Playing like a strange mixture of Casablanca and The Battle of Algiers, it's dramatically stilted, thematically garbled and completely unsatisfying.

In 1925, Syrian Arabs revolt against France's heavyhanded rule, plunging Damascus into brutal guerilla warfare. General LaSalle (Everett Sloane) urges brutal tactics in suppressing the uprising, but sensitive Colonel Feroud (Lee J. Cobb) urges negotiation with Arab leader Hassan (Onslow Stevens). Into this volatile mixture steps Harry Smith (Humphrey Bogart), an American ne'er-do-well who ends up running guns to the Syrians. Harry seduces the pretty Violette (Marta Toren), who happens to be Feroud's lover, and the American finds himself caught between the two sides.

Prior to Lawrence of Arabia, Hollywood rarely even tried to get the Middle East right, and Sirocco is more egregious than fantasies like The Sheikh and The Four Feathers because of its seriousness. An early scene has a journalist interviewing the French and Arab leaders, showing each of them equally intransigent, but this interesting idea is lost with a completely one-sided portrayal. The French engage in disreputable tactics but Feroud's disapproval is emphasized, while the Arabs ambush French soldiers in the streets and blow up nightclubs. France's occupation of Syria was baldfaced imperialism, League of Nations Mandate or no, and Sirocco bests even the later Lost Command in its unsophisticated view of Middle Eastern insurgency.

Sirocco has more problems than its politics. The plot is a lazy retread of Casablanca, with the same roughish protagonist, tortured love triangle, shifty French officers and air of amorality, but without anything approaching the richness and enjoyability of that classic. The film was obviously made on the cheap and director Curtis Bernhardt does little to make it look good, with generically seedy back alleys and bombed out streets straight out of The Third Man. Most of the action occurs offscreen and the facile dialogue and characterization make it hard to care about what we do see. Sirocco is just a sour and empty experience all around.

Humphrey Bogart is on autopilot. By this point in his career, Bogie could play a cynical, amoral adventurer in his sleep and he proceeds to do just that. The idea of Harry as an anti-Rick Blaine is an interesting conceit, but Bogart does little with his character, merely going through the roguish motions. Even in lesser roles like Sabrina Bogart is rarely forgettable, but he comes awfully close here with a character who's just a low-rent creep.

Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront) anchors the film with a surprising role. Usually a scenery chewer extraordinaire, Cobb gives a refreshingly restrained, down-to-earth performance, his honorable French officer far more appealing than the unpleasant Bogart. Marta Toren is pretty in a weak role as the love interest. The supporting cast, despite including recognizable names like Onslow Stevens, Zero Mostel, Everett Sloane, Gerald Mohr and Jeff Corey, is completely forgettable.

Sirocco is junk of a rather low order. It's interesting neither as a portrayal of the Middle East, nor as a foreign noir, nor as a vehicle for Humphrey Bogart.