moonspinner55 Review of Affair in Trinidad

Affair in Trinidad (1952)

Faux-exotic melodrama with spy trimmings; trashy, low-brow fun...

[6/10 · 23 July 2009]

James Gunn and Oscar Saul concocted this rather simple screenplay from Berne Giler and Virginia Van Upp's original story concerning American nightclub singer in the Tropics whose husband turns up dead; the police, believing it was murder made to look like a suicide, ask the sultry widow to spy on their number one suspect, an urbane millionaire with eyes for the hips-grinding dame. Rita Hayworth, more animated than usual, acquits herself well in this florid potboiler, knocking out two song numbers in a mellow key while falling for brother-in-law Glenn Ford (to whom she's been instructed not to divulge her secrets!). Misunderstandings, steamy clinches, an impertinent native maid, and a misplaced evening scarf all lead up to an exciting climax--although director Vincent Sherman cheats us a bit by skimping on the violent details. The narrative would pretty much collapse if only the two main characters were simply honest with each other--belaboring what Roger Ebert used to call "the idiot plot"--but, nevertheless, it's a fun, glossy affair. **1/2 from ****