Affair in Trinidad (1952)

Director:

Vincent Sherman

Writers:

Berne Giler (story)
James Gunn (writer)

Release Date:

29 July 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller | Musical

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Trinidad | Love Triangle | Jealousy | Place Name In Title | Nazi

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

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

Also Known As:

Girl from Amen Valley (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The song "Rum and Coca Cola" by The Andrews Sisters was originally a calypso song composed and performed by a Trinidad calypso band in the mid-1940s. At that time the American military maintained two bases in Trinidad. The song is about the soldiers from these bases and how a mother and daughter provided "pleasure" for the "Yankee dollar". Actually, if one walked around Port of Spain - Trinidad's capital city - during this period it was a common sight to see American soldiers and sailors with local women at hotels and bars.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bronec gets run over at the airport his bags end up on the verge but in the next cut they are on the road.

Quotes:

Max Fabian: If you're waiting for my last words, you've heard them.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Rita Hayworth: The Columbia Lady (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

I'VE BEEN KISSED BEFORE

Chica chica boom! Chica boom!

When one approaches a 1940's title like 'Affair In Trinidad', you'll be hard pressed to figure that it's some sort of musical with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, or some madcap Marx Brothers comedy, not a hard edged murder mystery, yet that's what this badly titled movie is. Not that there's nothing wrong with the movie, I liked it. It's just the title is sort of curious. Rita Hayworth is a.. uh.. entertainer in very sleazy club (check out the people "returning" downstairs (cough) and keeps the people entertained by singing and dancing very suggestively to a song called "Trinidad Lady". Actually, she's SMOKING (as in hot!) in this scene, her dress and dancing are amazing. But soon, the police arrive on the scene, her husband has committed suicide, and they want to find out the reasons leading to his death. Glenn Ford, playing as steely jawed as Glenn Ford can, who plays his brother, wants to know too! From there, it's a whirlwind of deception, romance and thrills (well, not really), that is not really suspenseful, because we find out early on who did it, we just have to find out why (and that reason is a silly post-war hokum). Oh well, Hayworth IS pretty to look at, and Glenn Ford is great as usual, so the combination of the two is sorta fun to watch.