Passage to Marseille 1944

In 1942, journalist Manning John Loder arrives at a British RAF base to learn about the Free French who are fighting the Germans. Alongside Captain Freycinet Claude Rains, he watches as French bomber crews prepare for a raid, and his eyes settle on a figure behind the headlines: Jean Matrac Humphrey Bogart, a bold gunner whose story has become a beacon of resistance. As Freycinet narrates Matrac’s past, the film unfolds a tale of courage, conviction, and the costs of war.

Two years before, just before France’s collapse, five men are found adrift in a small Caribbean canoe by the tramp steamer Ville de Nancy: Marius Peter Lorre, Garou Helmut Dantine, Petit George Tobias, Renault Philip Dorn, and their leader, Jean Matrac Humphrey Bogart. They initially claim to be French-Venezuelan miners returning home to fight for their country, but when pressed by Captain Malo Victor Francen, they confess a grimmer truth: they are escaped convicts from Devil’s Island. The five are not merely fugitives; they are veterans of a larger plan born from patriotism. They were recruited by Grandpère Vladimir Sokoloff, an elderly but ardent exile who believes in the cause of France. Matrac, a crusading newspaper publisher who opposed the Munich Pact, had been framed for murder to silence him, a detail that shades his leadership with both resolve and risk.

As the Ville de Nancy nears the port of Marseille, France has surrendered to Nazi Germany and a collaborationist Vichy government takes shape. Captain Malo, moved by the press of events and the courage of the escapees, secretly resolves to divert the cargo away from the German hands and toward Britain. Yet danger lurks: a pro-Vichy traveler, Jourdain Hans Conried, schemes to seize control of the ship, while he continues to broadcast the ship’s coordinates to the enemy. The escapees fight back, their action costly but decisive: they shoot down a Nazi bomber, and in the process Marius sacrifices himself for the group. The Ville de Nancy finally makes harbor in Britain, where the surviving convicts enlist with the Free French bomber squadrons, their fates now tied to a broader resistance.

Back with the present-day tale, as the squadron returns from a mission over France, the narrative tightens around personal ties and risk. Renault’s bomber is delayed, yet Matrac is granted a final, poignant duty: he is allowed to drop a letter to his family—his wife, Paula Matrac Michèle Morgan, and the son he has never met—before continuing on with another perilous sortie. The mission ends with a grim toll: Matrac is killed, and the bomber returns heavily damaged.

At Matrac’s interment, Freycinet reads aloud Matrac’s undelivered letter to his son, a moving testament that imagines a future where evil is defeated. The message is clear and enduring: a vow to preserve family bonds, to keep faith with those left behind, and to ensure that the flame of resistance endures even in the darkest hours. The film closes on a hopeful note, rooted in sacrifice and the belief that perseverance can outlast tyranny, with the promise of delivering that final letter to the next generation.

In this story, every layer—from the daring escape at Devil’s Island to the intimate moment of delivering a last letter—highlights the personal costs of war and the quiet strength of those who refuse to surrender. The film blends documentary-like detail with human drama, presenting a portrait of courage anchored in responsibility, memory, and the unyielding drive to fight for a future worth living.