Really Surprised!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

No discernible plot. Cooper smirking his was through his role. Dietrich showing just a hint of her allure. Those eyes. Those legs. As Hedley Lamarr says to Lily Von Schtupp in Blazing Saddles, ''Lily, Lily, Lily, oh legs, oh Lily." Dietrich even utters the line, ''When will I see you again,'' after one embrace with Cooper. Mel Brooks was even better at stealing old movie clips and re-making them for comedy than Quentin Tarantino is at stealing things for his violence p0rn. Adolph Menjou was a treat, as usual but he doesn't get enough screen time compared to the wooden Cooper. All considered this movie amounts to nothing, proves nothing, advances nothing technically, leaves no impression. Merely a historical footnote because it brought Dietrich to America.

The sole reason for me to watch this black and white classic is Marlene Dietrich, courtesy of the fact that it gave her the one and only Oscar-nomination in her entire career. And it is a delight to find out Gary Cooper is her co-star (gosh he is really at his prime, particularly in his army uniform), and the director at helm is Josef von Sternberg, Ms. Dietrich's long-time collaborator, no wonder even the heartthrob Cooper does not stand any chance to steal her thunder (so is a very underused Adolphe Menjou).Truly, this film is all about Marlene, her neutral sexuality is exuding all over the screen with the top hat and the tuxedo when she renders her mesmerising performance as the chanteuse in the cabaret (not to mention the notorious girl-girl kiss scene, it must be a sensational topic at that time, it was 1930!). At the same time her quaint flair as a woman trapped in love but too proud to admit it in front of her beloved man has its momentum to propel the film with its uneven plot. I may be too harsh, the film is made 82 years ago, in the wake of talkie era, so I readjust my original rating from 4 to 5. The patchwork of its very much run-of-the-mill script and camera movements (there are some rather frivolous shots of battle scenes which might fall into the laughingstock notch) are pretty much dated and ruefully, Ms. Dietrich cannot single-handedly save the film (her then English accent is still a bit grating, hope I'm not the only one to say that), the entire film doesn't sell the story in a fully credible structure, many details are being sidelined while the sentimentality is lingering on and on, or perhaps it is just another film fails to connect with when time mercilessly passes by. But last but not the least, its classic way of sending the "dare to love" message is warm and encourage, the final bravura of pursuing her lover in the march has its own merit in that time, if I may divine.

Why should we watch now this eighty years old film, made in black and white, slow moving forward, with only latent developing story? I'll try to answer this question. The thrill of "Morocco" lies in the characters of the protagonists, played by unforgettable Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper. I believe, Voltaire said once that the most beautiful thing in the world is a human face, and it seems to be true, when you watch their faces.The sparkles between a legionnaire Tom Brown (Cooper) and a singer Amy Jolly (Dietrich) are immense, it's love from the first sight, we see this on his face and we see it in her handling him the key from her flat, just in the first evening.While the rich gentleman Le Bessiere (Adolphe Menjou) is at the beginning just curious about her and her further fate, and only later gets really involved with her, the young legionnaire seems to be blown off by her first appearance on stage. Amy Jolly has certainly no "stage fright", she knows very well how to play audience, and doesn't need any advice from the owner of the place. She attracts attention by wearing her extravagant costume and then by taking a flower from a woman's hair and kissing her (rather teaching her manners than anything else). And then suddenly this flower will be given away: to Tom Brown. So we see the very beginning of the romance, and we see the reactions of the audience.The thrill is in the nuances, in the play of shadows and light. Perhaps, the pauses in the dialogs are as meaningful as the words: when Tom Brown says: "Nothing... yet!", we know already what kind of fellow he is, or even more famous example: Amy Jolly says after a long pause: "I'll be back... wait for me." It's more impressive than those dozen words she could fill in this empty time space. But the intensity of the scene would be lost! I must also stress the brilliance of the love dialogs in "Morocco". For instance it's a wonderful line, when Amy Jolly says to Tom Brown: "You should go now... I'm beginning to like you." It's a deeper insight into a woman's soul.About the rich man: somehow he seems rather playing games with Amy Jolly, so he provokes her by saying about the women following the legion into the desert that they love their men. I guess the meaning of his words was that she, Amy, does not love anyone really, and then she belongs to him, into his world. If she does, she should make her choice.Cooper gives a genius imitation of the way Tom Brown speaks: he speaks like a soldier, in a hacked, simple, straight forward manner.At the end of the film Amy Jolly takes off her shoes to follow her man; maybe this scene has influenced the other film makers ("The red shoes" (1948) and "The river of no return" (1954)).What is also interesting about "Morocco" is a multilingual surrounding: we hear English, French, German, Arabic and Spanish.In my opinion it's the best not only of Dietrich, but also of the young Cooper, because only after seeing "Morocco" I start to believe in him as a charming Casanova from Hollywood.

Gary Cooper meets Marlene Dietrich in this good-looking film. Need we say more! But I will say that Gary has never looked so appealing and so young. He was very much a pretty boy in his younger days. And, Marlene is a great entertainer with the help of memorable songs.The plot, who cares! But seriously, there is very little to know. Adolphe Menjou is in love with her, but she basically won't have much to do with him, as long as Coop is around. My favorite little detail is the way it opens and closes. Look closely at the people walking and the animals by them. Its predictable premise may not be much to intrigue the hard to please, but with Marlene who's so good she was nominated for Best Actress, it should be a great way to spend a night at the movies.