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Trade Winds

  • 1938
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 33m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
623
YOUR RATING
Joan Bennett and Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)
CrimeDramaRomance

Kay Kerrigan commits a murder and then changes her hair color, assumes a new identity and flees the country by ship. She's unaware that she's being followed by Sam Wye, a skirt chasing detec... Read allKay Kerrigan commits a murder and then changes her hair color, assumes a new identity and flees the country by ship. She's unaware that she's being followed by Sam Wye, a skirt chasing detective. The two soon develop a shipboard romance.Kay Kerrigan commits a murder and then changes her hair color, assumes a new identity and flees the country by ship. She's unaware that she's being followed by Sam Wye, a skirt chasing detective. The two soon develop a shipboard romance.

  • Director
    • Tay Garnett
  • Writers
    • Tay Garnett
    • Dorothy Parker
    • Alan Campbell
  • Stars
    • Fredric March
    • Joan Bennett
    • Ralph Bellamy
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    623
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Tay Garnett
    • Writers
      • Tay Garnett
      • Dorothy Parker
      • Alan Campbell
    • Stars
      • Fredric March
      • Joan Bennett
      • Ralph Bellamy
    • 30User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win

    Photos22

    Ralph Bellamy, Robert Elliott, and Ann Sothern in Trade Winds (1938)
    Ann Sothern in Trade Winds (1938)
    Ralph Bellamy and Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)
    Joan Bennett and Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)
    Fredric March and Ann Sothern in Trade Winds (1938)
    Ralph Bellamy in Trade Winds (1938)
    Joan Bennett in Trade Winds (1938)
    Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)
    Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)
    Joan Bennett and Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)
    Joan Bennett in Trade Winds (1938)
    Joan Bennett and Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Fredric March
    Fredric March
    • Sam Wye
    Joan Bennett
    Joan Bennett
    • Kay Kerrigan
    Ralph Bellamy
    Ralph Bellamy
    • Ben Blodgett
    Ann Sothern
    Ann Sothern
    • Jean Livingstone
    Sidney Blackmer
    Sidney Blackmer
    • Thomas Bruhme II
    Thomas Mitchell
    Thomas Mitchell
    • Police Commissioner Blackton
    Robert Elliott
    Robert Elliott
    • Captain George Faulkiner
    Joyce Compton
    Joyce Compton
    • Mrs. Johnson
    Richard Tucker
    Richard Tucker
    • John Johnson
    Dorothy Comingore
    Dorothy Comingore
    • Ann
    • (as Linda Winters)
    Wilma Francis
    Wilma Francis
    • Judy
    Paulita Arvizu
    • Hawaiian Girl
    • (uncredited)
    Hooper Atchley
    Hooper Atchley
    • Detective
    • (uncredited)
    Art Baker
    Art Baker
    • Police Announcer
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Harry Barris
    Harry Barris
    • Pianist
    • (uncredited)
    Phyllis Barry
    Phyllis Barry
    • Ruth
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Baxley
    • Detective
    • (uncredited)
    Brooks Benedict
    Brooks Benedict
    • Roger - Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Tay Garnett
    • Writers
      • Tay Garnett
      • Dorothy Parker
      • Alan Campbell
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ann Sothern's character proved so popular in this movie, it was spun off to create series of "Maisie" films.
    • Goofs
      When Thomas is shot, he is wearing a striped robe with a bright monogram on the left breast. When we later see his body on the floor, with the police investigating, the monogram is missing.
    • Quotes

      Commissioner Blackton: There's not one of you - not one - that could trail a puppy with muddy feet across a white bedspread.

    • Connections
      Referenced in The Rookie Cop (1939)
    • Soundtracks
      When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
      (uncredited)

      Lyrics by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff (as George Graf, Jr.)

      Music by Ernest Ball

      Played by Fredric March on piano

    User reviews30

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    A Garnett, but Not a Diamond
    "Trade Winds" has some enjoyable moments. This Tay Garnett-directed independent feature has the beautiful and talented Joan Bennett as a murderess on the run in the Orient pursued by a skirt-chasing former policeman played by a very miscast Fredric March. The film veers from whodunit, to travelogue, to screwball comedy, to romance, to courtroom drama without much consistency. Because the major emphasis is on comedy and romance, the film needs the versatility of a Fred MacMurray in the lead. Although a fine actor, March is out of his element in a role that requires a lighter touch.

    The usually reliable Ralph Bellamy, who excelled as the proverbial light comic "other man" in classics like "His Girl Friday," "The Awful Truth," and "Brother Orchid," ends up as an oafish buffoon of a policeman of the type often played by Edgar or Tom Kennedy. His performance clashes with March's and at times he seems out of an alternative universe. Although Ann Sothern has a very enjoyable drunk scene, she's underutilized, and the usually reliable Thomas Mitchell is given little to do but growl as a police commissioner... wasted in a role than would have usually gone to a William Frawley.

    The film's inconsistencies are likely the fault of writer/director Tay Garnett, who had a lengthy but inconsistent career resume' with at least one masterpiece ("The Postman Always Rings Twice") to his credit. He did helm some films with similar elements to "Trade Winds": "One Way Passage" with Powell and Francis, "Seven Sinners" with Dietrich and Wayne, and "China Seas" with Gable and Harlow, but unfortunately Garnett never developed a consistent style, and by the 1950s he was directing TV Western series episodes like "Death Valley Days" and "Bonanza". With a steadier hand like a Howard Hawks at the helm, and more appropriate cast choices "Trade Winds" may have been a minor classic, but now it's just a curiosity. By the way, two interesting sidebars: Dorothy Parker (of Algonquin Round Table fame) was a collaborator on the script and the enigmatic Dorothy Comingore appears briefly here (under the name Linda Winters) several years before her triumph in "Citizen Kane."
    helpful•4
    5
    • duke1029
    • Jan 28, 2014

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 28, 1938 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • La fugitiva de los trópicos
    • Production company
      • Walter Wanger Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $738,733 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 33 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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    Joan Bennett and Fredric March in Trade Winds (1938)
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