The Beasts of Marseilles

Despite some negative reviews of this film I actually think this is one of the more enjoyable war films . It features a rare sinister role for the always excellent James Robertson Justice who plays Dr Martout, a real life mass murderer and Doctor who was hanged for his crimes. It's probable that he never plied his trade in helping people escape the Nazi's in Marseille where the film is set as he spent most of the war in Paris. The film features good performances from Stephen Boyd, Tony Wright and Anna Gaylor as the love interest of Boyd. The film manages to be involving and exciting in parts and all in all I think it's well worth watching.

Many films have ambiguous titles, but why "Seven Thunders"? Was this the title of the book from which this film was derived? Can anyone explain? Did I miss something in this slow and ponderous film? The whole storyline did not ring true. Where were the escapees going to from Marseilles? Spain would seem the obvious choice. Was this in fact an actual escape route for Allied POWs from Italy? The film was interesting from the fact that a lot of it was shot on location, but overall it was a very disappointing use of a talented cast! Interesting to see Stephen Boyd in an early screen role. Sad that his career appeared to peter out and that he died young.

It's 1943, and the Germans are in control of the French port of Marseilles. Although the Nazis seem to be having plenty of fun at the local bordellos, they're upset by the amount of crime in the poor part of town, and suspicious that anti-Nazi plots are hatching there.

They're absolutely right. At the beginning of the film, we meet two British soldiers who escaped from a POW camp, and are hunkering down in a tiny apartment, waiting for a chance to sail to England. But they can't possibly obey orders and stay in that apartment, so they venture out, and through them we gradually meet the rest of the people in the building and the local area. There's the charming girl next door who's also a petty thief (Anna Gaylor, looking a lot like a young Jessica Lange), an ex-pat Cockney lady with a knack for self-preservation (Kathleen Harrison), a fat and vicious Nazi with an eye for the ladies, and a sinister gentleman named Dr. Martout (James Robertson Justice) who claims to be helping refugees flee the country, but may in fact be in a completely different line of work.

The script skillfully weaves all these story lines together, and keeps the tension turned up throughout. Although the opening credits label this "A British FILM" shot at Pinewood, much of it is shot on location, so the city of Marseilles plays a key role. Why is this fine- looking film, with a very competent cast and arresting visuals, so little known? This is an excellent, off-beat addition to the canon of WW2 movies.

The time is 1943 and the scenario the Vieux Port of Marseille. By this time France's Free Zone had been abolished and Nazi occupation had been extended to the whole country. The Vieux Port was a maze of labyrinthine streets and alleys where houses were connected to each other by subterranean passages, hidden openings in the walls and window/roof/window paths. This made the quarter an ideal scenario for the Resistance hiding fugitives, and the plot deals with two British airmen escaped from a POW camp looking for a way to rejoin their force. In 1943 the Nazi occupiers aided by the French police, dynamited much of the historic old town (the movie contains some documentary footage).

There is a subplot involving a character, Dr. Martout, who preys on Jews and other people that need to leave France urgently. Dr. Martout seems to be based on a real character, Dr. Marcel Petiot , a serial killer that operated in Paris during the war and has a movie devoted to his exploits, Docteur Petiot (1990) plus several documentaries. This movie's actual title is Seven Thunders, probably from St. John's Book of Revelation, which doesn't seem to relate to what we see on screen.

After a brilliant career in his native Argentina Hugo Fregonese became a no less successful director in Hollywood. His work began with One Way Street in 1950 and included some biggies such as Blowing Wild (1953), with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. He also directed in Europe (the UK in this movie). Fregonese was a solid studio director who could do justice to a good script like in this film, which stands above many other war movies.

Not a stiff upper lip to be seen. Instead, French bordellos, bread sticks, wine, lust and seething emotions are on the menu as two British escapees from a German POW camp try to hide out in the occupied port city of Marseilles while waiting for a boat back to England.

I say `try' to hide out, because their presence soon becomes an open secret - the Germans seem to be the only ones not in on it. And with all those friendly locals around, that's where the lust and other emotions come in – after all what's a chap to do while sitting around in a lively French city?

As well as the highly original story line, other very striking features of this movie include the superb black & white filming which lovingly captures the teeming bohemian district of Marseilles. Also one can't help being struck by the astonishingly handsome cast of relatively obscure leading actors. The two British escapees in particular could have stepped straight out of a Mr Universe competition. The better known James Robertson Justice plays only a minor but memorable role.

Just for sheer imagination, style and novelty, this movie stands out as a welcome variation on the wartime escape theme. By the way, don't switch off early because the Nazis provide a spectacular surprise ending.