Affair in Trinidad (1952)

Affair in Trinidad
Directed by Vincent Sherman
Written by Oscar Saul and James Dunn; story by Virginia Van Upp and Berne Giler
1952/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation/The Beckworth Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Dominique: It is the prerogative of a faithful and loyal servant to be impertinent.[/box]

The story, a mash-up of Gilda and Notorious, falls rather flat.  Not so Rita Hayworth’s dancing.

Neal Emory’s body is found in Port of Spain harbor with a bullet in the head.  At first, it is thought that the unsuccessful painter may have committed suicide.  The police and American consul call on Neal’s widow, Chris (Hayworth).  She has no idea why he might have committed suicide but reveals that the couple had been married in name only for about a year.  A witness and an autopsy reveal that the corpse was shot after Neal was strangled.

The police suspect the murder may have had something to do with the wealthy Max Fabian (Alexander Scourby), who is well-known to the police.  The police threaten that they will attribute Neal’s “suicide” to Fabian’s attraction to Chris if she does not cooperate by getting next to Fabian and reporting back.  She is not to reveal what she is doing to anyone.  For some reason, this intimidates Chris into cooperating.

In the meantime, Neal had written to his brother Steve (Glenn Ford) telling him that he had a job for him in Trinidad.  Steve shows up and starts a parallel investigation of his brother’s death.  He also ends up staying in Chris’s house.  Naturally, they begin a stormy love affair. Chris must play up to Fabian, however, causing ever more violent storms.  With Juanita Moore, as Chris’s wise, mystical Trinidadian housekeeper.

The plot is shot through with holes and its resolution is rushed and unsatisfactory.  I wasn’t expecting much from this movie and was pleasantly surprised that Ford and Hayworth retained their Gilda chemistry.

Clip – Rita Hayworth doing “Trinidad Lady”