A mystic, a trollop, and a cuckolded archaeologist walk into colonial Algeria. Things get messy.
Town trollop Safia, much against her better judgment, falls in love with Matteo, a beggar and mystic in the native quarter of Sirocco. She flees to France, first as the mistress and then wife of a wealthy archaeologist, and bears him Matteo's child, whom he believes to be his own. Complications arise years later when Matteo finds Safia, and a ring of blackmailers uncover her past and exposes her to her husband.
Acting
Viviane Romance owns every frame she's in
Production
Algiers locations hotter than the plot
Costume
Safia's wardrobe does heavy character lifting
Director
Pierre Chenal
Louis Jouvet
Rossignol
Viviane Romance
Safia
Marcel Dalio
Matteo Gordina, 'le Maltais'
Pierre Renoir
Archaeologist André Chervin
Florence Marly
Diana
Fréhel
Rosina
Jany Holt
Greta
Gina Manès
Olga
Jean Davy
Friend of Chervin
Max Dalban
Jules, friend of Chervin
Pierre Labry
Leader of the gang
Gaston Modot
Stoker
André Gabriello
Robbed man
Nina Myral
Collector's wife
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Chenal fled France during WWII and remade this in Argentina as 'El loco amor'—the only director to adapt his own film twice.
Louis Jouvet's blackmailer Rossignol became his signature type: the venal opportunist in colonial spaces.
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