PASSAGE TO MARSEILLE (1944) From Casablanca to Marseille, Bogie helps win World War II

A follow-up to the enormously successful CASABLANCA (1943), PASSAGE TO MARSEILLE capitalizes on the considerable talents of many of the same cast (Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet) and crew. Told in a flashbacks-within-flashback structure, the story centers on Matrac (Bogart), a freedom-loving French journalist who sacrifices his happiness and security to battle Nazi tyranny. The film opens as a French liaison officer (Rains) tells Mantrac's story to a British reporter. Years earlier, Mantrac was married and deliriously happy, but he was framed by pro-fascists and sentenced to Devil's Island. After escaping to sea with several others, the group was picked up by a French vessel that was then commandeered by one of its passengers, a pro-fascist (Greenstreet). With the help of the prisoners, the ship's patriotic captain defeated the mutiny, enabling Mantrac to enlist in the R.A. F. and battle against Nazism. (Sounds confusing, but it's really not.) Okay, so by modern standards, PASSAGE is over-produced, over-directed, over-acted and over-scored (by Max Steiner); but overall, it's a pretty good film and darned fun to watch with popcorn. Incidentally, Bogart makes absolutely no attempt to speak with a French accent. But who cares – it's Bogart.