Affair in Trinidad (1952)

July 29, 1952, release date

Directed by Vincent Sherman

Screenplay by Berne Giler, James Gunn

Based on a story by Virginia Van Upp, Berne Giler

Music by George Duning

Edited by Viola Lawrence

Cinematography by Joseph Walker

Rita Hayworth as Chris Emery

Glenn Ford as Steve Emery

Alexander Scourby as Max Fabian

Valerie Bettis as Veronica Huebling

Torin Thatcher as Inspector Smythe

Howard Wendell as Anderson

Karel Stepanek as Walters

George Voskovec as Doctor Franz Huebling

Steven Geray as Wittol

Walter Kohler as Peter Bronec

Juanita Moore as Dominique

Mort Mills as Martin, Wittol’s henchman

Ralph Moody as the coroner

Produced by The Beckworth Corporation

Distributed by Columbia Pictures

Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth also star in Gilda, another noir favorite of mine. Gilda gets even more attention, it seems to me. Maybe because Gilda was released first. The plot in both films is similar in many ways, but I think the international intrigue is explained more clearly in Affair in Trinidad within the context of the narrative. Modern viewers (me!) don’t need to search online to understand the intrigue and make sense of the plot.

Many bloggers and members of the Classic Movie Blog Association are celebrating Rita Hayworth for the 100 Years of Rita Hayworth blogathon, running from October 17 to 19, 2018. Click here to visit the blog Love Letters to Old Hollywood, which is sponsoring the event. And click here to learn more about the blogathon itself. Many thanks, Michaela!

Affair in Trinidad starts right away with the mysterious death of an American living on the island of Trinidad. He’s quickly identified as Neal Emery, the husband of Chris Emery. Chris Emery has gained some notoriety for herself as the dancer and singer at the Caribe, a local nightclub that seems to have a dubious reputation, although no one says exactly why that is. A local millionaire, Max Fabian, sees Neal’s death as his chance to woo Chris Emery, but Neal’s brother Steve shows up unexpectedly for a visit, and he decides to investigate his brother’s death. It isn’t long before he and Chris are attracted to one another. Just like Gilda, there is a love triangle, with one of the players (Max Fabian) a ruthless purveyor of government secrets on the black market.

(This blog post about Affair in Trinidad contains spoilers.)

Inspector Smythe investigates Neal Emery’s death and realizes that Neal was murdered. He too sees opportunity in Neal’s death, but for an entirely different reason. He wants Chris to lure Max Fabian into a romantic relationship and find out what she can about his activities on the island. He seems to have no qualms about putting the recently widowed Chris in danger. Here’s the way Inspector Smythe describes Fabian to Chris: “He [Max Fabian] is a man who deals in political intrigue, secret information, treason. A man who’s grown rich by exploiting trouble and unrest wherever they exist. During the last war [World War II], he recruited saboteurs for the enemy. He bought and sold vital military information for both sides. . . .” Here are examples of Max Fabian’s recent—and dangerous—visitors to the island:

◊ Walters is working for an unnamed government that has paid huge sums of money to Max Fabian for industrial and technological information.

◊ Peter Bronec is an electronics and radar specialist.

◊ Dr. Franz Huebling has written articles about B-2 rockets just after the war.

◊ Veronica Huebling is Franz’s wife and a scout for new bases of operations.

Chris is reluctant at first to take on Inspector Smythe’s task, but he confiscates Chris’s passport and so Chris doesn’t have much choice.

When Steve Emery meets Dr. Huebling, he recognizes his name and knows that Huebling has written articles. His knowledge about the articles and about flying (he served as a pilot in World War II), draw Max Fabian’s attention. He worries about Steve Emery investigating his brother Neal’s death and perhaps finding out too much about his own activities. Fabian and his colleagues have reason to worry: They are stealing technology secrets, improving on the work, and preparing to sell it to the highest bidder, even if it’s an enemy of the United States. Dr. Franz Huebling describes Bronec’s work as follows: “. . . The German V-2, of which we were so proud, was a kindergarten toy compared to this [his latest work]. With launching bases in the Caribbean, there is not a vital area in the United States that is not within striking distance. . . .”

Just like Gilda, Affair in Trinidad is about more than international intrigue. While Chris and Steve get busy trying to save the future of the United States from any more harm in a postwar world, they also find time to develop feelings for one another. The necessity of acting the spy forces Chris to be evasive, however, and the two have to wade through many misunderstandings and hurt feelings before they can finally trust one another, which is a lot like the plot of Gilda. The following conversation, for example, could have been taken from Gilda:

• Chris: “Steve, the things you believe about me, they’re not true.”

• Steve: “Forget it. You don’t have to account to me for anything.”

• Chris: “But I want to.”

• Steve: “Then why didn’t you tell me about the crest [on Fabian’s stationery and on his glassware], about Fabian, about everything? What is it between you and him?”

• Chris: “There’s nothing between us.”

• Steve: “Is that why he looks at you the way he does? Like he can’t wait to get his arms around you?”

• Chris: “I can’t help how he looks at me. But his arms have never been around me. Nobody’s arms. Not for a long time.”

• Steve: “Not even Neal’s?”

• Chris: “Not even Neal’s.”

Glenn Ford even slaps Rita Hayworth across the face later in the film, at Fabian’s birthday party, just as he did in Gilda, in Ballin’s nightclub, when Gilda danced provocatively for all the nightclub guests.

I wrote about Gilda in October 2017; click here to read my blog post.

Dominique is Chris’s servant and plays the role of Greek chorus, explaining Trinidadian customs, commenting on Steve’s mistakes and social blunders, and noting Chris’s grief and need to move on—with Steve, of course. She encourages the budding attraction between Steve and Chris:

• Dominique: “Do you like him?”

• Chris: “Well, he seems very nice.”

• Dominique: “Well, I like him.”

• Chris: “That’s good.”

• Dominique: “This one is a man. The other was a shadow of him.”

• Chris: “Well, I hadn’t thought much about it.”

• Dominique: “Maybe it is appropriate that you should. I shock you, perhaps? When one day is over, another day begins.”

• Chris: “West Indian proverb?”

• Dominique: “West Indian household hint.”

Dominique doesn’t know about Inspector Smythe’s plans for Chris to act as a spy, but I doubt that would have changed her mind about Steve as a suitable partner for Chris. She plays the “wise native woman,” which seems outdated and even offensive to modern audiences, but her role in the film is nonetheless an important one.

Affair in Trinidad, although fraught with danger for both Chris and Steve, didn’t seem as frantic to me as Gilda did. Gilda was released in 1946, very soon after the end of World War II. The war was over, but the uncertainty about rebuilding Europe and transitioning to peacetime in the United States probably had a larger influence on the general atmosphere of uncertainty and menace in Gilda than it did in Affair in Trinidad. By 1952, the United States had more experience of the postwar period and was settling into its role as a superpower.

Both films are interesting to compare for the context in which they were produced and the story in each. And I would like to point out that both films can be enjoyed on their own, without any comparisons. Both are great stories with a lot of star power.