Sirocco (1951)
A disjointed reworking of Casablanca (1942) except nowhere near as good, in which Humphrey Bogart again plays a disillusioned idealist this time in the midst of 1925 Damascus which is held by the French army despite the Syrian insurgents attempts to remove them. Naturally Bogart aids the French whilst selling arms to the rebels.
Whilst Bogart is great as always and the studio bound sets are a revelation the film is lacking in almost everything else from a sharp script to a classy dame although Lee J Cobb is excellent as a French commander. It also lacks any back story for Bogart meaning there's no motive for him going what he's doing.
A film i've seen a few times over the years, this the first time from the recent Bogart box set from Indicator, and one i always enjoy watching but it really should be better.
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