Pepe le Moko DVD, 1937

Despite the savaging he received in the 1950s from the young Turks at Cahiers du Cinéma, Julien Duvivier was one of the most accomplished and versatile French film-makers during the golden age of poetic realism.

His mastery of mood is readily evident in Pépé Le Moko, an engrossing study of criminous loyalty, impending doom and lost dreams that anticipates the darker dramas of the immediate pre-war period.

He also coaxed a superb performance out of Jean Gabin, who was rapidly becoming the personification of the nation's self-image as the continental crisis deepended. Indeed, his portrayal of the romantic anti-hero trapped in the Casbah by crime and circumstance earned him iconic status and helped ensure that this timeless masterpiece became the Gallic equivalent of Casablanca.

David Parkinson on 1st August 2004
View all 163 of David Parkinson's reviews