PÉPÉ LE MOKO (1937)
![]()
Randwick Ritz, Sydney:
4:45 PM
Thursday May 01
1:45 PM
Tuesday May 06
Lido Cinemas, Melbourne:
3:30 PM
Friday May 09
1:00 PM
Monday May 12
Rating: M
Duration: 94 minutes
Country: France
Language: French with English subtitles
Cast: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Lucas Gridoux, Gaston Modot
Director: Julien Duvivier
SYDNEY TICKETS ⟶
MELBOURNE TICKETS ⟶
4:45 PM
Thursday May 01
1:45 PM
Tuesday May 06
Lido Cinemas, Melbourne:
3:30 PM
Friday May 09
1:00 PM
Monday May 12
Rating: M
Duration: 94 minutes
Country: France
Language: French with English subtitles
Cast: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Lucas Gridoux, Gaston Modot
Director: Julien Duvivier
SYDNEY TICKETS ⟶
MELBOURNE TICKETS ⟶
4K RESTORATION – AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
“If I were an architect and I had to build a monument to the cinema, I would place a statue of Julien Duvivier at the entrance” – Jean Renoir, 1967
Holed up in the Casbah in Algiers, gangster Pépé (Jean Gabin) falls for the glamourous Gaby and thus begins his trip down the slippery slope to doom. Inspector Slimane sets a trap to entice Pépé from his lair … Master craftsman Duvivier was among the most highly regarded French film-makers of the 30s. Pépé le Moko is among a batch of films he made in that decade which placed him at that peak. Gabin was the best known French actor of his day and his performance in the lead marked a new high of popularity. The creation of the Casbah in a French studio allowed Duvivier full freedom to enhance the dark shadowed, heightened realism that was a hallmark of French cinema in the day.
"One of the most exciting and moving films I can remember seeing". It succeeds in "raising the thriller to a poetic level.” – Graham Greene, The Spectator
“Julien Duvivier was once considered one of the world’s great filmmakers. He was idolised by Orson Welles and Michael Powell, while Ingmar Bergman once admitted that of all the careers that he would have liked to have had, it would be Duvivier’s. The classicism of his mise en scène, his core thematic concerns – deception, misanthropy, the fragility of the (male) group, the dangerous woman – and his ability to coax fevered or fragile performances by both established stars and new actors place Duvivier at the apex of French Classical Cinema.” – Ben McCann, Senses of Cinema
Introduced by Max Berghouse at Ritz Cinemas and Kevin Cassidy at Lido Cinemas
“If I were an architect and I had to build a monument to the cinema, I would place a statue of Julien Duvivier at the entrance” – Jean Renoir, 1967
Holed up in the Casbah in Algiers, gangster Pépé (Jean Gabin) falls for the glamourous Gaby and thus begins his trip down the slippery slope to doom. Inspector Slimane sets a trap to entice Pépé from his lair … Master craftsman Duvivier was among the most highly regarded French film-makers of the 30s. Pépé le Moko is among a batch of films he made in that decade which placed him at that peak. Gabin was the best known French actor of his day and his performance in the lead marked a new high of popularity. The creation of the Casbah in a French studio allowed Duvivier full freedom to enhance the dark shadowed, heightened realism that was a hallmark of French cinema in the day.
"One of the most exciting and moving films I can remember seeing". It succeeds in "raising the thriller to a poetic level.” – Graham Greene, The Spectator
“Julien Duvivier was once considered one of the world’s great filmmakers. He was idolised by Orson Welles and Michael Powell, while Ingmar Bergman once admitted that of all the careers that he would have liked to have had, it would be Duvivier’s. The classicism of his mise en scène, his core thematic concerns – deception, misanthropy, the fragility of the (male) group, the dangerous woman – and his ability to coax fevered or fragile performances by both established stars and new actors place Duvivier at the apex of French Classical Cinema.” – Ben McCann, Senses of Cinema
Introduced by Max Berghouse at Ritz Cinemas and Kevin Cassidy at Lido Cinemas
THE RESTORATION
Source: Studiocanal, Australia
Restored in 4K in 2024 by StudioCanal at L’Image Retrouvée laboratory from the 35mm original negative. Funding provided by CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée.
Director: Julien Duvivier; Production Company: Paris Film Production; Producer: Robert & Raymond Hakim; Script: Julien Duvivier, Henri La Barthe, Jacques Constant, Henri Jeanson; Photography: Marc Fossard, Jules Kruger; Editor: Marguerite Beaugé; Production Design: Jacques Krauss; Music: Vincent Scotto, Mohamed Iguerbouchène;
Cast: Jean Gabin (Pépé), Mireille Balin (Gaby Gould), Gabriel Gabrio (Carlos), Lucas Gridous (Inspector Slimane), Saturnin Fabre (Grandfather), Line Noro (Inès), Marcel Dalio (L’Arbi), Gaston Modot (Jimmy)
France| 1937 | 94 Mins | 4K DCP | B&W | French with English subtitles | UC 15+
Restored in 4K in 2024 by StudioCanal at L’Image Retrouvée laboratory from the 35mm original negative. Funding provided by CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée.
Director: Julien Duvivier; Production Company: Paris Film Production; Producer: Robert & Raymond Hakim; Script: Julien Duvivier, Henri La Barthe, Jacques Constant, Henri Jeanson; Photography: Marc Fossard, Jules Kruger; Editor: Marguerite Beaugé; Production Design: Jacques Krauss; Music: Vincent Scotto, Mohamed Iguerbouchène;
Cast: Jean Gabin (Pépé), Mireille Balin (Gaby Gould), Gabriel Gabrio (Carlos), Lucas Gridous (Inspector Slimane), Saturnin Fabre (Grandfather), Line Noro (Inès), Marcel Dalio (L’Arbi), Gaston Modot (Jimmy)
France| 1937 | 94 Mins | 4K DCP | B&W | French with English subtitles | UC 15+