Affair in Trinidad (1952) - film review

Chris Emery is a nightclub dancer and singer in Trinidad.  When she learns that her husband has been murdered, she agrees to act as an agent of the British secret service, who believe the culprit to be Max Fabian, a wealthy man with a criminal past.  Things become complicated when Chris’s brother-in-law, Steve, puts in an unexpected appearance.  Steve appears more determined than Chris to discover why his brother died and he suspects she may be in league with Fabian...

Affair In Trinidad marked the eagerly awaited return of Rita Hayworth to Hollywood after a four year absence during which she played the devoted wife (with disastrous results) to playboy Prince Aly Khan.  The marriage well and truly over, Hayworth was keen to get back to work, and Columbia welcomed her back with open arms and a film that promised to be a major hit.  It was.  It was as if Rita had never been away.

An obvious reworking of Hayworth’s earlier success Gilda (1946), Affair In Trinidad sees the actress once again partnered with Glenn Ford, with whom she had a particularly effective on-screen rapport.  The plot (some muddled nonsense involving Nazi agents) is virtually identical to that of Gilda, with a liberal helping of plagiarism from Hitchcock’s Notorious.  The camera-hogging Hayworth once again kicks off the proceedings with one of her sultry song and dance numbers, a jaw-dropping spectacle that makes a cold shower obligatory for at least half of the audience.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?