Affair in Trinidad (1952)

Nightclub singer and her brother-in-law try to find her husband's killer.

Director:

Vincent Sherman

Writers:

Oscar Saul (screen play), James Gunn (screen play),

Stars:

Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Alexander Scourby

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rita Hayworth	...	Chris Emery
Glenn Ford	...	Steve Emery
Alexander Scourby	...	Max Fabian
Valerie Bettis	...	Veronica Huebling
Torin Thatcher	...	Inspector Smythe
Howard Wendell	...	Anderson
Karel Stepanek	...	Walters
George Voskovec	...	Doctor Franz Huebling
Steven Geray	...	Wittol
Walter Kohler	...	Peter Bronec
Juanita Moore	...	Dominique
Gregg Martell	...	Olaf, Fabian's Chauffeur
Mort Mills	...	Martin, Wittol's Henchman
Ralph Moody	...	Coroner

Storyline

When Steve Emery arrives in Trinidad at the urgent request of his brother, he is stunned to find that his brother has not only been murdered, but that his brother's wife Chris is succumbing to the seduction attempts of the man who quite possibly is the murderer. His feelings are further exacerbated when he discovers that he, too, is becoming strongly attracted to Chris, who is a steamy cabaret singer. She, in turn, is playing off one against the other while betraying the secrets of both men to the police, for whom she is secretly working.

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Plot Keywords:

seduction | trinidad | caribbean | woman slaps man | place name in title | 

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Girl from Amen Valley

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, The Beckworth Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The production of "Affair in Trinidad" is credited to the Beckworth Corporation, named for Rita Hayworth and her daughter Rebecca Welles, but Beckworth wasn't an actual production company. It was a tax dodge set up by Hayworth and Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn to allow her fee for the film to be considered a capital gain rather than a salary, and therefore taxed at a lower rate.

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Goofs

An exterior shot of an airborne DC-3 with standard rectangular windows is followed by an interior shot of Emery looking out of a round window.

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Quotes

Trinidad Band: [singing] A chick-a-chick boom, a chick-a-chick boom / Announces your in the room with the Trinidad Lady. / A chick-a-chick boom, a chick-a-chick boom / Your ticker goes boom-boom-boom for the Trinidad Lady.
Chris Emery: [singing] It's only that I do what I love and love what I do / Can't help the mad desire that's deep inside of you. / You realize the fault isn't mine, you are to blame / You want what you can't have, and you're just the same.

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Connections

Featured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)

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Soundtracks

"I've Been Kissed Before"
(uncredited)
Written by Lester Lee and Bob Russell
Performed by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Jo Ann Greer)

User Reviews

Glenn Ford and Rita hayworth go down the "NOTORIOUS" path

This highly entertaining movie was the return of Rita Hayworth to the screen after a brief flirtation with married life and screen retirement. For her comeback, to establish back with the graces of the movie buying public, she is teamed with Glenn Ford who starred with her in her biggest and most popular hit Gilda. This was no guarantee for box office magic because an even bigger budgeted movie "Carmen" starring the aforementioned tanked in 1948. But that was a unoperatic take on the famous opera story Carmen with a woefully miscast Glenn Ford in a Tyrone Power like role. Avoid that movie. But going back here to the mystery and intrigue of Gilda, this movie was a box office hit unlike the earlier comment mistakenly claimed and was one of the 23 biggest hits of its year. ( I don't know the exact rank). And Glenn Ford was wooed away from Columbia by MGM with a bigger paycheck and Hayworth stayed on at Columbia through the late fifties. The plot a mismash of Notorious and the earlier Gilda as Hayworth plays the temptress who is really an innocent who all men cannot resist. Her husband is murdered and his brother shows up to find things more fishy than they really are. One thing about Hayworth, she could hoof for sure and sell sex through dance and the two musical numbers are a delight. Forlorn shadows, dark passages, whispers in the dark follow as Vincent Sherman, a true craftsman, if not an auteur (I do not believe an auteur is superior to a craftsman. An auteur just has a regular theme in the movies he/she directs.) brings sharp direction and well-earned suspense to this fine movie. Catch it whenever it airs or better, just rent it.