To refer to this film as patriotic propaganda is to undersell the message it is trying to sell its intended audience. Warner Brothers was already facing bad blood with the French about previous depictions of penal conditions on Devil’s Island which lead to a two month ban of their films in France. Passage to Marseille seems at times like an answer to that by trying to promote patriotism in France despite the harshness of incarceration on the infamous isle. Even though the film has a real issue with how the story is laid out relying on flashbacks inside of flashbacks it never loses track of that message and it never gets confusing to follow. We are bombarded with characters who proudly proclaim their willingness to fight for a country that let them down and forgot about them. This is all scored heavily with La Marseillaise and the images of Free France.
When word gets back to the steamer that France has surrendered to the Nazis and a collaborationist government has been set up, Captain Malo (Victor Francen) decides not to deliver his cargo to the Germans. Major Duval (Sydney Greenstreet) in turn attempts to stage a coup to seize the ship only to be defeated by the combined efforts of most of the crew as well as substantial support from the five convicts, earning them a degree of trust amongst the loyal crew of the Ville de Nancy.
Most of the story is told in extensive flashbacks. We get these layered upon each other in such a way that a casual viewer may become lost if they aren’t paying attention. These flashbacks tell the story of Matrac and his fellow convicts contextualizing where they stand in their devotion to their country. Matrac himself is not as sold on patriotism as the others as he is wrongfully imprisoned leaving behind a wife and child. When Grandpere has the men swear to lay down their lives for France, Matrac alone doesn’t voice the words. However when push comes to shove he picks up a weapon and defends his country along with the others. Even the main plot of the story aboard the Ville de Nancy is a flashback, a story being relayed to a journalist by Captain Freycinet (Claude Rains) just prior to an air attack in which Matrac is participating in as an aerial gunner.
The story is well acted all around without a single weak link amongst the principle cast. An early scene describes the principle hierarchy of the Ville de Nancy and the descriptions hold out throughout, especially in reference to Major Duval and his subordinate who is described as a yes man. In those early scenes we learn all we need to know about these two men. Later, when the convicts have been rescued, Duval recognizes them for who they are immediately and practically makes it his mission to route them out as the convicts they claim not to be. It is fitting then that when he stages his coup it is primarily these convicts that turn the tide against him and even manage to shoot down a Nazi aircraft one of the traitors has managed to radio in. Duval sized these men up quickly, yet in the end their patriotism and heroism ends up being his undoing.
This story could be confusing but is told well enough that those paying attention will have no issues following the chronology. The film does suffer from it a little however as it fails to suspend its artificiality and contrivances because of it. History buffs will also be drawn out of it by it’s many liberties taken with events and details. For the non-discerning eye though it is just an oddly paced patriotic propaganda film. It’s also relying heavily on the goodwill of audiences who loved Casablanca two years earlier by featuring most of the cast together again. It never seems to soar quite as high as Casablanca did it succeeds in breeding a sense of patriotism during a time when the world very much needed that sentiment. Artificially created or not, Passage to Marseille is a compelling drama that is both uplifting and entertaining.
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Philip Dorn, Peter Lorre, George Tobias, Helmut Dantine, Sydney Greenstreet
Directed By: Michael Curtiz
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