Algiers is one of those naturals in pictures, having action, romance, strange places and predicaments, and the peg of character to hang it on.

never gets over its artificiality, emptiness or lack of suspense.

The dialogue is silly (and campy), but the film is nicely produced and Hedy Lamarr is goregous in the movie that made her an international star.

This is quite an enjoyable pairing of Charles Boyer ("Pepe") and Hedy Lamarr ("Gaby"). Filmed on location for some of it, Boyer is a jewel thief who arrived in Algeria a few years earlier and governs the Casbah area of the city much like a Mafia Don. The French authorities are determined to bring him to justice and "Slimane" (Joseph Calleia) is just biding his time. He's given quite a helping hand when "Gaby" arrives and "Pepe" falls for her - she reminds him of times gone by in Paris - and also causes quite a stir with his girlfriend "Ines" (Sigrid Gurie). It could certainly be doing with some additional wattage - but even so, the film is stylish to look at, and the performances from Boyer, Gurie, Gene Lockhart and Alan Hale as a sort of prophetic grandfather kind of character add a quite a lot of richness to Henri La Barthe's pretty nondescript, very dialogue heavy, 1931 novel. It's certainly worth a watch if not for the story, then for the performances.