Passage to Marseille (1944)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Casey Robinson (screenplay) and
Jack Moffitt (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 March 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure | War

Plot:

As French bomber crews prepare an air raid from a base in England, we learn the story of Matrac, a French journalist who opposed the Munich Pact...

Plot Keywords:

Ship | French | Murder | Escape | Devil's Island

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Jean Matrac
Claude Rains	...	Captain Freycinet
Michèle Morgan	...	Paula Matrac (as Michele Morgan)
Philip Dorn	...	Renault
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Major Duval
Peter Lorre	...	Marius
George Tobias	...	Petit
Helmut Dantine	...	Garou
John Loder	...	Manning
Victor Francen	...	Captain Patain Malo
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Grandpere
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Chief Engineer (as Edward Ciannelli)
Corinna Mura	...	Singer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Andre	...	Navigator (uncredited)
Robert Appel	...	Guard (uncredited)
John Bagni	...	Seaman (uncredited)
Albert Baldo	...	Seaman (uncredited)
Bobby Barber	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Carmen Beretta	...	Petit's Wife (uncredited)
Monte Blue	...	Second Mate (uncredited)
Walter Bonn	...	Prison Official (uncredited)
Frederic Brunn	...	Bijou (uncredited)
Peter Camlin	...	French Sergeant (uncredited)
André Charlot	...	Judge (uncredited)
Hans Conried	...	Jourdain (uncredited)
Marcelle Corday	...	Grocer's Wife (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Chief Guard (uncredited)
Adrienne D'Ambricourt	...	Rosalie - Mayor's Wife (uncredited)
Franklin D'Amour	...	Seaman (uncredited)
George Davis	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Jean Del Val	...	Raoul (uncredited)
Adrian Droeshout	...	Guard (uncredited)
Diane DuBois	...	Petit's Daughter (uncredited)
Demetris Emanuel	...	Seaman (uncredited)
Fred Essler	...	Prosper - Mayor (uncredited)
Richard Flato	...	Bombardier (uncredited)
Anatol Frikin	...	Crazy Convict (uncredited)
Harold Gerard	...	Guard (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Thug Wrecking Newspaper Office (uncredited)
Charles La Torre	...	Lieutenant Lenoir (uncredited)
Oscar Loraine	...	(uncredited)
Harro Meller	...	German Pilot (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Engineer (uncredited)
Victor Metzetti	...	Guard (uncredited)
Peter Miles	...	Jean Matrac Jr. (uncredited)
Suzette O'Neill	...	Flower Woman (uncredited)
Alex Papana	...	Lookout (uncredited)
Tony Paton	...	Emil (uncredited)
David Powell	...	English Radio Operator (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	Older Guard (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Guard (uncredited)
Sylvain Robert	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
William Roy	...	Mess Boy (uncredited)
Konstantin Shayne	...	First Mate (uncredited)
Jay Silverheels	...	Sailor Crewman on Boat Deck (uncredited)
Bernard Sommer	...	Bombardier (uncredited)
Raymond St. Albin	...	Medical Officer (uncredited)
Maurice St. Clair	...	Dompierre (uncredited)
Mark Stevens	...	Lieutenant Hastings (uncredited)
Donald Stuart	...	Military Driver (uncredited)
Sándor Szabó	...	Sergeant of the Guards (uncredited)
Louis Trevis	...	Bombardier (uncredited)
Roger Valmy	...	Rocroi (uncredited)
Juan Varro	...	Gunner at Field (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Casey Robinson		(screenplay) and
Jack Moffitt		(screenplay)
Charles Nordhoff		(novel) and
James Norman Hall		(novel)
Elick Moll		contributor to screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Owen Marks

Art Direction by
Carl Jules Weyl

Set Decoration by
George James Hopkins

Costume Design by
Leah Rhodes		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Eric Stacey	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frank Heath	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Everett A. Brown	....	sound

Special Effects by
Jack Cosgrove	....	special effects director (as Jack R. Cosgrove)
Edwin B. DuPar	....	special effects (as Edwin Du Par)
Roy Davidson	....	special effects (uncredited)
Byron Haskin	....	special effects (uncredited)
Rex Wimpy	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Harvey Parry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buster Wiles	....	stunt double: Humphrey Bogart (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ben Colman	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Leonid Raab	....	orchestral arranger

Other crew
Herschel Daugherty	....	dialogue director
James Leicester	....	montages
Sylvain Robert	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Dominant Pictures Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Key Video (video)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (video)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

109 min | France:75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #9359) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Warner Bros. built a full-scale Merchant Marine ship in three months, modeled after the French ship Ville de Nancy.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Mattrac is pointing his fifty cal. machine gun out the waist gun window, we hear machine gun sounds, but the gun is not firing. The 50 cal. M2 machine gun produces a great deal of vibration when it is being fired. The gun did not vibrate one bit.

Quotes:

Jean Matrac: Funny how much more you can say with a few bars of music then a basket full of words.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Someday I'll Meet You Again

Bogart in flashbacks - good film

Quite a good film. I didn't have any trouble following the flashback-in-a-flashback scheme. Bogart was Bogart. What can you say? Greenstreet and Lorre were good. Claude Rains was excellent. Apparently, some people are upset at this film because it isn't "Casablanca". I don't really think it tried to be. It was probably just that the actors and director liked working together, and if that sold more tickets, well, no one would complain. Clint Eastwood and Woody Allen frequently cast their films with the same actors, presumably friends (and lovers), and no one thinks twice about it.