Michael Curtiz is one of my favorite directors and considered one of the best directors of the golden age of Hollywood. This is the guy who directed two of my favorite films of all time-- The Adventures of Robin Hood and Casablanca, pretty much universally considered one of the best films of all time. Watching Passage to Marseille I got the feeling that Warner Brothers was looking to recreate the magic of Casablanca by putting together much of the cast and crew of that film for this one. In addition to Curtiz, Owen Marks as Editor, Music by Max Steiner, Art Direction by Carl Jules Weyl, along with Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre in the cast, all worked on Casablanca. Curtiz did make two films between Casablanca and Passage to Marseille both pretty much propaganda films, one of which presented Russian Communism in a good light. Keep in mind this was the height of World War II and the Russians were our allies. Aaaaanyway. Passage to Marseille tells the story of five escaped prisoners from a penal colony in French Guina who go on to become part of the “Free French Air Squadron”.
I have no proof of this theory, this is my observation after watching the film, but I think Warner Brothers pushed this project on Curtiz and wanted it done fast. The film was shot entirely in and around Las Angeles and the story takes place in France, England, Guiana, and on a ship at sea. So the use of stock footage and miniatures was heavily relied on. The success of these miniatures ranges from great, especially in the battle scenes, to atrocious. There is a shot of a miniature car driving onto a farm with little cows and a little tractor that looks like a home video of a miniature Christmas display. Even in 1944 this had to be bad. Then there’s the weird structure of the script. We begin in England with a reporter arriving at the headquarters of the Free French Air Squadron. He is told, in flashback, the tale of the five convicts and their adventure getting to where they are now, fighting to free their homeland. But then there is a sequence within the flashback story, flashing back to tell the story of how Humphrey Bogart’s character ended up in the penal colony. So a flashback in a flashback. I laughed out loud when it happened. There is something of a love story between Bogart’s character and his wife, played by the lovely Michele Morgan, that feels a bit forced. That’s what the flachback in the flashback is mainly about. But, they couldn’t make a movie with this many people from Casablanca in it without a love story.
Luckily, Michael Curtiz and his experienced cast and crew keep the train on the tracks as best as anyone could. Pulling it all together into a fairly satisfying and emotional conclusion. Well...it’s a little obvious and corny, but it still works pretty well. If there had never been a “This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship” ending prior to this, I might be more accepting of it. Admittedly, the ending of this film requires us to know background regarding the relationship between Bogart’s character and his wife, giving some credence to the existence of the extra flashback. Though I still think restructuring the film into something closer to chronological order would have improved it. My opinion. While Passage to Marseille is not in the same league as Casablanca there is enough in it to be worth the look. Especially the mutiny sequence and sea battle that follows, which are the highlights of the movie. Spoiler- they never actually even go to Marseille.
I watched Passage to Marseille on the streaming service Max, but it is available on Blu-ray and DVD for under $20.00.
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