Our story starts with the local police ruminating over the man in our title: “Pepe Le Moko” – seems that Pepe is a world class jewel thief/bank robber/Han Solo. A man who can take whatever he wants, when he wants and they are damned. They can’t catch him. Why? Well, he’s at “The Casbah!” This large area of houses upon houses. Where prostitutes sell themselves. Where there is lice and evil and all manner of ill repute. But Pepe, when we finally see him about 10 minutes in…is a man’s man. A man of the world. He is the king of the Casbah and everyone protects him. And what’s not to like? He’s handsome, he makes money, he has his priorities straight, he takes care of his underlings and, when he thinks he’s going to get laid – HE SINGS! (and, well, what guy DOESN’T sing when he thinks he’s going to get laid?)

You see, though, this is a problem. As much as he has money and power in the Casbah – the police and a detective by the name of Slimane can’t seem to get him OUT of the Casbah. Slimane, though, is basically a guy who plays both sides of the streets. He has yet to arrest Pepe, though he swears he’s got the date written on his wall, and is seemingly his friend giving Pepe an ear into the police movement. But…the police also know that Slimane seems to hang out with Pepe a lot. Seems that Sliman is just biding his time for the right moment.

When a beautiful woman (with lots of bling) comes visiting the Casbah as a tourist she meets up with Pepe and they are immediately smitten with each other. He falls head over heels in lust with her (though he has the pick-of-the-litter in the Casbah – Inez) and can’t wait to meet her again. Inez, you know the fiery Hispanic type, can’t stand to see Pepe swoon over another woman but Pepe is drawn in and he can’t think of anyone else.

But…there’s a plot afoot. The police are told that Pepe’s right-hand-man, Peirott, could be used as bait for said jewel thief – so working with a back-stabbing assistant of Pepe’s (Regis) they take Peirott away for a good ol’ classic beat down. Pepe figures out that Regis is selling him out and it doesn’t take long for Peirott to show up an attempt to shoot the living shit out of Regis (someone else has to do it as Peirott is too beat up). When Peirott dies Pepe goes into a drinking spell and nearly throws himself to the cops – only to be rescued by the jealous suffering Inez.

Still…Pepe can NOT get the woman out of his mind and after a few more double crosses and pointed fingers, Slimane figures the way to fix this is to tell the woman with the jewels that Pepe was killed so she could get on with her life. Pepe, though, is told by a confidant that the woman is leaving on the next boat to parts unknown (well, they’re were known – I just don’t remember them now…). Will Pepe exit the Casbah to find her? And what of jealous Inez? Is Slimane really playing both? Will Pepe get away?! By GOD MAN, why are you reading this crappy review! Get your hands on this film and find out! (okay, that’s not really an endorsement – I just wanted to add to some excitement)

WHAT I LIKED:

Wow – well there’s a lot to like – starting with the performances. The same guy who starred in this (Jason notes him above, I’m sure) starred in a couple other Janus films so I think that means he’s 3-2 to Michael Redgrave – HA!

Everyone was very good. I liked the cinematography (with one strong caveat which I will mention soon) and I really liked the story telling. Pepe’s a suave debonair kinda guy but he’s also a brutal thug. And as much as early on in the story you want to be his best buddy – by the end you know that he would kill you if he needed to. It makes for a very realistic multi-dimensional character.

This is a bit of a cat-and-mouse game and one played very well. There were no cookie-cutter villains and, like I said – Pepe was a very real thug.

Same with the Casbah. I thought the characters and scenery were really well done. You felt like you were there. Maybe it’s a tad cleaner than they say from early on but, still, I didn’t mind visiting the Casbah. I wouldn’t mind going back.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH:

First, the cinematography (so I can get that out of the way). Though it’s all done very well there were scenes in the Casbah where there seemed to be an out-of-focus ring around the camera. In the center it was in focus, on the edges it was not. It wasn’t all the time just some of the time. I tried to figure…is it the Casbah? Is it the director trying to tell us something? I finally assumed: No. It was just what it is. Distracting.

Second, though I liked the storytelling and the cat-and-mouse-ness of it all – I do have to take issue with the central story of Pepe and his attraction for “The Woman With the Jewels” – there’s really nothing there but a couple of conversations and a kiss. I don’t even think there’s a bit of grab-ass going on. Would this character go to these lengths to be with her after a cup of coffee and a bran muffin? Would he risk his life? The lives of his friends? His current girlfriend? Just so’s he can sing and get laid?

THAT part of the story I found the least credible – though the actors do a grand job of trying to make it work.

Oh, and you never see him steal jewels or rob banks or anything like that.

BOTTOM LINE:

Enjoyable film from the collection. Got some good things to recommend it – but not the best and certainly not the worst. Wait a minute…I think I feel a song coming on…