Unfortunately, American audiences were given a bad first impression of Curd Jurgens, who had already played great, meaty roles in Europe. In Bitter Victory, The Enemy Below, and Me and the Colonel, he played soldiers with less than admirable qualities, in This Happy Feeling, he played a middle-aged man enamored with a teeny-bopper, and in Tamango, he played a racist slave trader with a black mistress. I won't spoil things by telling you the awful things his character does throughout the movie, but he's just about as villainous as it gets. He makes Messala from Ben-Hur look like the hero. He didn't stand a chance!
Since I've seen him in other roles, I was able to take this one with a grain of salt. I figured that America still saw any German as a Nazi (no matter his personal background) and Curd (or Curt, as Hollywood billed him to make him more accessible) would just have to play villains or go back to Europe - which he eventually did. On the slave ship he captains, there's a rebellious man, Alex Cressan, who constantly causes trouble and gets punished for it. Dorothy Dandridge is Curd's mistress; she receives certain perks even though she's still a slave, and she figures his protection is better than nothing. The rest of the ship calls her "white man's trash", and when she lets loose and tells Curd that she thinks he's the real trash, you can imagine it doesn't go well. He thought they were in love; he thought it was sexy and romantic to hold her in bed (yes, there was actually a scene where they're in bed together partially clothed - in 1958!) and say, "I own you!"
Unless the plot interests you or you really love Dorothy, you don't have to watch this movie. It's not very enjoyable to watch a movie whose entire point is, "look how racist this evil white guy is." Dorothy doesn't even give a very good performance, and she comes across as very contemporary. She also seems tired, like she'd already done twenty takes and just wanted to go home.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. Since the entirety of the movie takes place on a ship, there are some bobbing and weaving camera movements, especially during the storm sequence, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"
Since I've seen him in other roles, I was able to take this one with a grain of salt. I figured that America still saw any German as a Nazi (no matter his personal background) and Curd (or Curt, as Hollywood billed him to make him more accessible) would just have to play villains or go back to Europe - which he eventually did. On the slave ship he captains, there's a rebellious man, Alex Cressan, who constantly causes trouble and gets punished for it. Dorothy Dandridge is Curd's mistress; she receives certain perks even though she's still a slave, and she figures his protection is better than nothing. The rest of the ship calls her "white man's trash", and when she lets loose and tells Curd that she thinks he's the real trash, you can imagine it doesn't go well. He thought they were in love; he thought it was sexy and romantic to hold her in bed (yes, there was actually a scene where they're in bed together partially clothed - in 1958!) and say, "I own you!"
Unless the plot interests you or you really love Dorothy, you don't have to watch this movie. It's not very enjoyable to watch a movie whose entire point is, "look how racist this evil white guy is." Dorothy doesn't even give a very good performance, and she comes across as very contemporary. She also seems tired, like she'd already done twenty takes and just wanted to go home.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. Since the entirety of the movie takes place on a ship, there are some bobbing and weaving camera movements, especially during the storm sequence, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"