Marie Galante (1934)

Marie is kidnapped and taken aboard ship, then thrown off at Yucatan. She winds up singing in a café in the Panama Canal zone. There she gets involved in a plot to destroy the canal and runs into American intelligence officer Crawbett.

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Reginald Berkeley (screen play), Jacques Deval (based on the novel by),

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Ketti Gallian, Ned Sparks

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Spencer Tracy	...	Dr. Crawbett
Ketti Gallian	...	Marie Galante
Ned Sparks	...	Plosser
Helen Morgan	...	MissTapia
Sig Ruman	...	Brogard (as Sigfried Rumann)
Leslie Fenton	...	General Saki Tenoki
Arthur Byron	...	General Gerald Phillips
Robert Loraine	...	Ratcliff
Frank Darien	...	Ellsworth
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Adrienne D'Ambricourt	...	French Girl (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Marie Galante, a pretty French deliverer of telegrams, is inadvertently abducted by a drunken sea captain bound for Central America. Escaping in Mexico, Marie travels down the coast trying to find a way back home to France. In the Panama Canal Zone, she finds work as a singer and piques the interest of several men: Tenoki, a Japanese merchant, Brogard, his German competitor, Ratcliff, a British diplomatic agent, and Dr. Crawbett, ostensibly a researcher into tropical diseases. In fact, one or more of these men is involved in espionage and a plot to sink the U.S. fleet as it passes through the canal. Naive Marie cannot believe anything nefarious is afoot, but the handsome Dr. Crawbett convinces her to help him uncover the saboteur. But Marie is not sure she can trust even Crawbett.

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Plot Keywords:

canal | panama canal | panama | espionage | german | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

26 October 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Maria Galante

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Marie's armband has disappeared when she is imprisoned on the ship.

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Quotes

Marie Galante: Ah, Monsieur Brogard is French!
Brogard: Well, his shop is, anyway.

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Connections

Remade as Charlie Chan in Panama (1940)

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Soundtracks

"On a Little Side Street"
Music by Harry Akst
Lyrics by Bernie Grossman

User Reviews

Early Spencer Tracy in Panama spy thriller

M. G. opens in a restaurant somewhere in France, with the sound of people singing. Then Marie Galante (K Gallian) on a bicycle rushing off somewhere.... Lots of people speaking French, and the ship captain gets a telegram in English, with lots of orders. The movie has been playing for two minutes and i'm already lost, although it might be my own fault for forgetting so much of my high school francais. It turns out the ship cast off while she was still aboard. More francais spoken. Then we're somewhere in central America, according to the title card, and we meet Dr. Crawbett (Spencer Tracy), Plosser the nightclub owner played by the great but sarcastic Ned Sparks (ya GOTTA see him in The Bride Walks Out 1936 - Hilarious!), spies, and various other suspicious people. According to Marie, (Ketti Gallian), she just wants to get back to her homeland. Crawbett and someone who MUST be a spy are sorting out the people in the nightclub, and that is the beginning of the story. Galante ends up going in search of a Frenchman who may or may not be able to help her get home. The screenplay and acting are quite competent, but the lighting is spotty and poor at times. When the camera pans around Marie Galante's room, it zooms past posters and things that would be helpful and interesting to be able to see. It appears Gallian's film career fizzled, while Tracy's bloomed and took off. Sharp viewers will also spot Sig Ruman, who plays Brogard. He had made A Day at the Races and A Night at the Opera with the Marx Brothers. The spy plot and "foreign" locations (including the Panama Canal, whether or not we are really there...) make this an interesting, exotic story, while we try to figure out who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys.