Sirocco (1951)

Set in 1925 Damascus, where the Syrians are fighting against the French colonialists to get their country back. A black marketeer (Humphrey Bogart) has no moral scruples and is selling guns and ammunition to the Syrian rebels and making a handsome profit off it. Based on the novel COUP DE GRACE by Joseph Kessel (BELLE DE JOUR) and directed by Curtis Bernhardt (A STOLEN LIFE). I'm surprised that this is one of those movies that received negative reviews upon its initial release because I found it quite engrossing. Bogart isn't a hero here, he's a cynic who doesn't take sides and supplies guns and ammo because there's money in it regardless that both French and Syrians will die as a result. The film's real "hero" is the French Colonel (Lee J. Cobb in a restrained performance), who sees the futility of the war situation and tries for a truce. But he's not perfect either, he's obsessed with a chilly mistress (Marta Toren), who has nothing but contempt for him. The film eschews a romanticized "happy" ending (this is no CASABLANCA) for a cautiously optimistic one. With Everett Sloane, Zero Mostel, Gerald Mohr, Harry Guardino, Nick Dennis and Jeff Corey.