Affair in Trinidad (1952)

And, the question is - Who killed "nice guy" Neal Emery, and why?... Well - As the story goes in "Affair In Trinidad" - The answer to Neal's untimely murder is a seriously complicated matter (as you'll soon find out).IMO - This 1952 "Rita Hayworth" come-back film was certainly better than I had thought it would be. But, it was certainly not "Film Noir" as it has been erroneously categorized.Back in 1952 the movie-going public literally flocked in droves to see this b&w crime/drama (which was shot entirely on sets in the USA at Columbia Studios).You see - Glamour girl, Rita Hayworth had been away from starring in pictures for 4 years. During that time of absence she had been married to Prince Aly Khan.To say that their royal, fairy-tale marriage was a messy affair would truly be an understatement - As it ended in accusations (by Hayworth) of cruelty and abuse. (Oh-me! Oh-my!)"Affair In Trinidad" was produced on a $1 million budget. It made back 7 times that amount in its first year of release.

****SPOILERS**** 1940's love goddess Rita Hayworth's long awaited return to the silver screen is as hot as a pistol as dancer & singer Chris Emery in "An Affair in Trinidad" where she goes undercover as a secret agent for the free world. While doing her super sexy dance number at the Cari-B night club Chris is told by Trinidad police inspector Smythe, Torin Thatcher, that her husband Neil was found dead of a self inflicted gunshot wound floating in Trinidad Bay. Not at first knowings what to think Chris is later told that Neil was in fact murdered and the person behind his murder was Max Fabian, Alexander Scourby,a good friend of Chris as well as international gun runner.Needing Chris to get the goods on Fabian and put him behind bars Chris reluctantly goes along with Thatcher's plan to trap Fabian in a honey pot affair but it's Neil's brother, just in from the states, Steve Emory, Glenn Ford, who ends up messing things up for both her & Inspector Thatcher. Steve realizes right from the start that his brother Neil was murdered and feels that his wife Chris together with her "lover" Max Fabian had something to do with it. Keeping secret that she's really working undercover to expose Fabian to the police Chris is smacked around, as well as smacks back, by an outraged Steve who's in danger of exposing what she's really involved in:Saving Trinidad as well as the free world from a Communist takeover! ***SPOILERS**** It turns out that Fabian is free lancing as a spy and saboteur for an unnamed but obviously communist, just pick one of many, government in stealing the most up to date propulsion secrets, gotten from the Nazis, of the US Air Force. With Fabian later finding out what Chris is up to he plans to have her knocked off by his goons but with Steve, who by now found out the truth to all this, jumping in to save her things go downhill for him. All of Fabian's plans backfire with himself getting iced, by mistake, by one of his goons that ends up not only saving both Chris & Steve but the entire free world from being nuked with the information he was to provide to, well just lets just stop beating around the bush and name it, the USSR! Even though she's been away from making motion pictures for some four year Rita Hayworth never looked more sexy & beautiful here and is the only reason for watching the movie. P.S It was later that Rita's mind not body began to deteriorate due to the then undiscovered ravages of Alzheimer's Disease and the poor woman was unable to remember her lines or work that tragically turned her life into a vegetated state and passed away in 1986 at the age of 68.

I've been in a few seedy nightclubs around the world and I have yet to find one where Rita Hayworth was saucily dancing in her bare feet. The rest of this mystery I've already forgotten and is just there as a vehicle for Rita's dance numbers (her singing was dubbed). The film was 'produced' by the Beckworth Corporation which was actually a front set up by Hayworth to reduce her tax bill. I'm not sure why they chose Trinidad as the locale, they didn't film one scene there and there weren't any Trini accents, music, or culture to be found in the movie. At the time T&T was simply a place in the Caribbean known for having a few US Naval bases and the subject of the song "Rum and Coca-Cola." This affair didn't end soon enough for me.

It's ironic that Rita's 1952 return to the screen was shot in black and white when her film in 1948 "The Loves of Carmen" was filmed in color. For her comeback film, you would have thought Harry Cohn would have given everything to the film to make it appealing: Rita, Glenn Ford, a similar film to "Gilda" in plot and style, and some songs (dubbed as usual) and dances for Rita.It's an okay film, but it's a bit unbelievable in spots. For example, Rita is trying to sneak around late at night in someone's house to uncover information while she is wearing her high heeled shoes. Wouldn't she have taken the shoes off to avoid making a sound so as not to be heard? She danced barefoot in one number, so it's not like the studio didn't want to show her shoeless. Another thing is how can her brother in law fall madly in love with her after a mere three days after discovering his brother has died? I enjoyed it, but to appreciate Hayworth's talent, there are better movies to see. Ironically, this movie made much more money than "Gilda" did!