Pepe le Moko (1937)

  I don't remember why I added this to my queue ages ago.  I read about it on some top 100 list somewhere, I'm sure. It's a good movie, but pretty depressing.

Pepe le Moko (Jean Gabin) is a wanted fugitive after robbing a bank in Paris and fleeing to Algeria.  The cops know it was him and that he has also committed dozens of other robberies but cannot arrest him.  Pepe and his crew are firmly ensconced in the Casbah, the center slum of Algiers, and the police don't have the manpower to cover all the nooks and crannies.  However, Pepe knows that if he should ever set foot outside the Casbah he is done for good and he is effectively in prison already.  Then he meets beautiful Parisienne Gaby (Mireille Balin), who represents all of the freedoms he cannot have.  Slimane (Lucas Gridoux), a policeman assigned to the Casbah, knows that all he has to do is wait for Pepe to slip up.  It's only a matter of time.

I think this is a bit early to classify as a noir which just makes it even more impressive.  There was some dark shit going on in the 30's.  Even though you can kind of tell how the movie is going to go, something about it hooks you in.  I never lost interest the entire running time, which is rare enough lately.  Plus, it was sad, which I usually hate.  This balanced out nicely, though.