White Cargo (1942)

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Ida Vera Simonton (novel)
Leon Gordon (play)

Release Date:

12 December 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

The story takes place at a British plantation in Africa where Tandelayo entices all the Brits, especially Harry Witzel.

Plot Keywords:

Africa | Jealousy | Rubber Plantation | Doctor | Drunkenness

Cast

Hedy Lamarr	...	Tondelayo
Walter Pidgeon	...	Mr. Harry Witzel
Frank Morgan	...	The Doctor
Richard Carlson	...	Mr. Langford
Reginald Owen	...	Skipper of the Congo Queen
Henry O'Neill	...	The Reverend Dr. Roberts
Bramwell Fletcher	...	Wilbur Ashley
Clyde Cook	...	Ted, First Mate of the Congo Queen
Leigh Whipper	...	Jim Fish
Oscar Polk	...	Umeela
Darby Jones	...	Darby
Richard Ainley	...	Mr. Worthing

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8627) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

The play opened on Broadway, New York City, New York, USA on 5 November 1923 and had 257 performances.

Quotes:

The Doctor: [applies alcohol to the native's foot] Kind of stings, hey? You can imagine what it does to the lining of your stomache!
[takes another drink]

Movie Connections:

Featured in That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)

Soundtrack:

The Oceana Roll

Tondelayo Make Funny

Todelayo see man-- Tondelayo want man. Tondelayo see other man--Tondelayo want other man. What Tondelayo want, Tondelayo get. Just bat eye, show leg, man start drool at mouth. Tondelayo funny, make audience laugh. Tondelayo not funny ! -- Tondelayo fire agent, get new script, get new director. Tondelayo make studio pay through nose.

I'm not sure what went on at rehearsals, but someone wasn't paying attention. This is one of the more unintentionally laughable performances in Hollywood history, and from a normally good actress. And where did those ridiculous lines come from that LaMarr has to mouth. And who was it that caked on so much greasepaint, her close-ups look like two headlights struggling through a fog bank. No wonder her African seductress was parodied for years on radio and TV. Tondelayo is a cross between Mel Brooks and CB DeMille.

There's the making of a pretty good movie in the first half-- about the isolation of colonial representatives during Europe's imperialist era; the sort of thing English author Somerset Maughm excelled at. That male cast also comes across as a believable and promising clutch of characters. Pidgeon especially shines in a difficult role. However, all that dissolves once the film's one and only female slithers into the the room to hiss out her pidgin English. One notable sidelight-- notice the script's pains to make clear that the love-struck Carlson is not marrying a black African. Instead, Tondelayo's blood lines are emphasized as Egyptian and Arabic. In short, the script is more concerned with crossing racial barriers than with the whipping of the natives to beef up company profits. A revealing sign of the times.