Sirocco (film)

Plot

In 1925 Damascus, the Syrians are engaged in a guerrilla war against the French rule of Syria. Harry Smith (Humphrey Bogart) is an amoral American black marketeer secretly selling them weapons. As the situation deteriorates, French General LaSalle (Everett Sloane) orders that civilians be executed each time his soldiers are killed, but his head of military intelligence, Colonel Feroud (Lee J. Cobb), persuades him to rescind the plan. Feroud presses for negotiations with rebel leader Emir Hassan (Onslow Stevens) instead. LaSalle reluctantly lets him try to arrange a meeting, but refuses to let Feroud make contact directly. The young officer sent in his place is later found with his throat cut.

To complicate matters, Harry makes a pass at Feroud's unhappy mistress, Violetta (Märta Torén), but she rejects him. Later, she informs Feroud she wants to leave him, but he refuses to let her go.

By applying pressure to Balukjian (Zero Mostel), one of Harry's friendly rivals, Feroud finds out about Harry's gun running. Harry is tipped off, just as Violetta shows up and begs him to take her back to Cairo. Needing to flee himself, he agrees to take her along. However, a French patrol nearly captures Harry. He barely gets away, but has to leave behind his money, and without that, he is soon betrayed to the French.

Facing execution, Harry agrees to help Feroud meet with Hassan. Hassan calls the colonel a fool and dismisses his plea for negotiations, but decides to spare his life when Harry and Feroud's aide Major Leon (Gerald Mohr) show up offering a £10,000 ransom. The officers are allowed to leave; Harry is not so lucky. The rebels are angered that he has revealed the location of their headquarters to the French and fear he has sold them out, so they kill him. As Feroud and Leon walk back, they notice that the incessant gunfire and explosions have stopped. Feroud wonders aloud if he has convinced Hassan to be as big a fool.

Cast

Critical reception

Film critic Bosley Crowther lambasted the film and wrote, "Except for a few moody moments in a plaster night-club, called the Moulin Rouge, and some shadowy shots of sloppy Syrians lying around in dingy catacombs, the scene is no more suggestive of Damascus than a Shriners' convention in New Orleans, on which occasion you would see more fezzes than ever show up in this film. For the most part—indeed, for the sole part—Sirocco wafts a torpid tale of a slick, sneering gun-runner proving a painful thorn in a nice French colonel's side."

Critic Leonard Maltin provided a mixed assessment of the film, observing it as an attempt to recapture elements that contributed to the success of Casablanca. Set in Damascus in 1926 amid conflicts between the French Army and Syrian insurgents, Maltin remarked that Sirocco is emblematic of Hollywood's formulaic approach. Despite this, he praised the film's capacity to entertain through its professional execution, including adept writing, staging, art direction, and casting, showcasing Hollywood's ability to elevate conventional material. Zero Mostel, Gerald Mohr, and Nick Dennis head the colorful supporting cast, who perform well under Curtis Bernhardt’s direction."