Affair in Trinidad (1952): Some World War II History Can Help

I wrote about Affair in Trinidad about three and a half years ago, and more recently someone left a comment, really a couple of questions, about a plot detail: “But why did Fabian want [Neal] Emery dead? Or have him killed?” I hadn’t seen the film in years, and I decided I was ready for another viewing because I was pretty sure that these questions had been answered in the film. Didn’t Neal Emery find out that Max Fabian was involved in international smuggling of state secrets and that’s what got him killed? Didn’t Fabian want Neal’s brother Steve Emery killed because he was digging into the circumstances of his brother’s death? And wasn’t Steve quickly becoming Fabian’s romantic rival for Chris Emery’s (Neal’s widow’s) affections? I decided to see the film again, just to be sure.

Click here for my first blog post about Affair in Trinidad.

It seems that I had made some assumptions about Neal Emery’s death based on a bit of knowledge about U.S. history—World War II history in particular. After seeing numerous films noir and other classic films from the war era, my curiosity about certain historical topics and issues led me to do some research. And after seeing Affair in Trinidad again, I found out I needed just a little more background information. Viewers in 1952 would not have needed to do the kind of research that I needed to do. The writers of the film’s screenplay could assume that viewers knew a lot of background information because, for them, many of the film’s details would have been current events, maybe even very similar to their own experiences, not a lesson in history.

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

Neal Emery, Chris’s husband, is already dead, murdered, at the start of Affair in Trinidad. His death is first thought to be a suicide, but the coroner discovers that he died of blunt force trauma to the skull. Mr. Anderson, from the U.S. consulate, is summoned to Inspector Smythe’s office because Neal Emery is a U.S. citizen living in Trinidad. Inspector Smythe, who works for the British government because Trinidad is under British rule, suspects Max Fabian, or someone close to him, in Neal’s death. Neal Emery and Max Fabian were friends, and Fabian is attracted to Neal’s wife Chris.

The film explains that Trinidad and Tobago are owned by Great Britain. Because he is already under suspicion, Max Fabian is known to the British authorities in Trinidad. Viewers in 1952 would have known that Great Britain and the United States were on friendly terms and would not have been surprised that the U.S. consulate would have become involved in the investigation surrounding Neal Emery’s death. Great Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union were World War II allies. The Soviet Union was breaking away from its wartime alliance after the war, but the remaining three allies were still working together on the international stage to keep the peace and root out Nazism. Many Nazis had escaped from Germany after the war and were hiding in South America and the Caribbean.

Steve Emery, Neal’s brother, flies down to Trinidad because Neal wrote a letter inviting him and because Neal has found a job for Steve. Steve Emery’s first appearance in the film is on the plane traveling to Trinidad. He is sitting next to Peter Bronec, although Bronec doesn’t identify himself at this time, and Steve and viewers don’t know who he is. Steve talks about his younger brother Neal, and the passenger says that he doesn’t know Neal, but he acts suspiciously after his conversation with Steve. Even the flight attendant notices Bronec’s behavior and inquires about him.

After Neal’s death, Fabian feels free to pursue the widow Chris, so he is not too happy to hear that Neal’s brother has arrived on the island asking questions. But he invites both Steve and Chris to dinner at his home. Additional houseguests arrive while Fabian is entertaining Chris and Steve for dinner, and Fabian introduces all his guests in one scene:

◊ Peter Bronec is an electronics and radar specialist. (Steve Emery recognizes Bronec as the passenger sitting next to him on the plane.)

◊ Dr. Franz Huebling has written articles about V-2 rockets just after World War II. (Steve Emery recognizes Huebling’s name and knows that Huebling has written these articles. Steve Emery mentioned on the plane trip to Trinidad that he is a pilot and flew a B-29, so he knows something about the subject of Huebling’s articles.)

◊ Veronica Huebling is Franz’s wife.

◊ Walters is working for an unnamed government that has paid huge sums of money to Max Fabian for industrial and technological information and secrets. (Viewers learn later in the film that this unnamed government is hostile to the United States.)

Steve Emery mentions that he flew a B-29, and Huebling says that he wrote articles about V-2 rockets. Viewers in 1952 wouldn’t have needed more information to know that Emery is a World War II veteran and that Huebling is a German scientist who had worked for the Nazi government. A modern-day viewer like me, however, had to do a little bit of research to find out more about these plot details. An online search led me to britannica.com (click on each list item for more information):

◊ V-2 rocket:

“In German, Vergeltungswaffen-2 (“Vengeance Weapon 2”), also called V-2 rocket or A-4, German ballistic missile of World War II, the forerunner of modern space rockets and long-range missiles.”

◊ B-29 plane:

“Also called the Superfortress, a U.S. heavy bomber used in World War II. Its missions included firebombing Tokyo and other Japanese cities and dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.”

Inspector Smythe is already investigating Max Fabian. He tells Chris Emery what he knows about Fabian’s activities and his involvement in the trade of international government secrets. Inspector Smythe also knows about Steve Emery’s arrival in Trinidad because he is keeping an eye on all arrival lists from the customs office. He needs to do a thorough background search on Steve Emery before Emery can be a trusted participant in his investigation. Inspector Smythe is more than willing to use Chris Emery as a spy because it is common knowledge that Fabian is attracted to her.

The reason(s) why Max Fabian had Neal Emery killed are not stated directly in the film. But I think the plot details give vital clues—details that would have been obvious to contemporary filmgoers but not to modern viewers. Neal Emery had found out that Max Fabian was involved in smuggling of some sort. He knew that Fabian had at least one private plane and that is why he had asked Fabian to hire his brother Steve, who is an experienced pilot. Whether Neal knew about the smuggling of state secrets isn’t important: He was asking questions and that was dangerous enough. Fabian wants Neal’s brother Steve Emery killed because Steve is digging into the circumstances of his brother’s death—and he becomes Fabian’s romantic rival for Chris Emery’s affections. Although the specific details are a bit different, Fabian wanted both brothers killed for the same general reasons.

It's also common knowledge that Fabian has resorted to violence and will do so again to get what he wants:

◊ Neal Emery is murdered, most likely by someone working for Max Fabian.

◊ Peter Bronec is killed, run over by a car at the airport. Bronec had finished his work for Fabian and was no longer useful to him. The fact that Wittol’s car (Wittol is the owner of Club Caribe in Trinidad) was used in the murder is probably a way to frame Wittol instead of anyone connected to Max Fabian.

◊ By the end of the film, Fabian has plans to kill both Steve and Chris Emery. Once he discovers that Chris has been using his affection for her to spy on him, she becomes expendable, too. Steve has been expendable all along because he has been asking too many questions.

One tiny detail that I couldn’t find any information about occurred during Steve Emery’s plane conversation with Peter Bronec. Steve is excited about visiting his brother in Trinidad:

• Steve Emery: “They tell me Trinidad makes the rest of the tropics look like Callahan’s backyard.”

• Peter Bronec: “Yes, it’s very beautiful.”

It’s clear that “Callahan’s backyard” is something everyone in 1952 knew something about, but I couldn’t find anything at all about it. If anyone wants to solve this last piece of the film’s puzzle by leaving a comment, I would be grateful.

Thank goodness for the ability to search online because I was able to find out a lot of information very quickly. A little bit of knowledge about World War II history helps a lot when it comes to understanding the plot of Affair in Trinidad.

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

Just Off Broadway (1942)

Of all the Michael Shayne films starring Lloyd Nolan that I have seen so far, Just Off Broadway has to be the noir-est. The film is still humorous and, yes, Phil Silvers plays Roy Higgins, a put-upon freelance photographer, for laughs. But there is more of a sense of danger in this film than in the previous Shayne detective films. When one of the characters, Rita Darling, is slapped across the face by another, George Dolphin, I almost wondered if she would get herself killed, too. That’s not something I have ever wondered about before in a Shayne film. That element of danger wasn’t the only difference from previous Michael Shayne films. The identity of the murderer came as a complete surprise to me, which is not always true of these short detective films.

Just Off Broadway is the sixth in a series of twelve films about the detective Michael Shayne. Lloyd Nolan starred as Shayne in seven of the films until the series was dropped by Twentieth Century Fox. These seven films were released from 1940 to 1942. When the series was picked up by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), Hugh Beaumont took over the role of Shayne for five more films, which were released in 1946 and 1947. Click on each film title below to see my blog post about the first five Michael Shayne films.

◊ Michael Shayne, Private Detective

◊ Sleepers West

◊ Dressed to Kill

◊ Blue, White and Perfect

◊ The Man Who Wouldn’t Die

Of course, some elements of Just Off Broadway are repeated from the first five films in the series. Michael Shayne is short on money and won’t be getting paid for his investigative work—again. His lack of finances is a running gag throughout the film and throughout the series. He and the female news reporter, Judy Taylor, who is working with him and wants the scoop, once had a romantic attachment, but Shayne is as short on luck in the romance department as he is with money. There’s no doubt, however, that he is a competent investigator, even if he does break the rules to find out the truth. As in the previous films, Shayne explains all the details of the murder and the case to end the film, this time to everyone in the courtroom at a murder trial.

The film starts with a chaotic crowd scene outside a criminal court building. Police officers hold back the crowd on the sidewalk while a car pulls up to the curb. When a woman, Rita Darling, gets out of the car, another woman asks for her autograph. Roy Higgins wants to take Darling’s photo, but a police lieutenant interferes. Others in the crowd rough her up a bit. One woman tries to steal her fur as a souvenir, and Rita belts her on the side of the head with her purse. Roy Higgins is still on scene, and he is happy to capture the purse-slinging moment on film.

Michael Shayne is a juror for the murder trial, and Rita Darling is a witness in the case. Lillian Hubbard is the suspect on trial for the murder of Harley Forsythe, a man who was involved with both women; thus, both had a motive to kill him.

Henry Randolph, a butler for one of Hubbard’s neighbors in her apartment building, is on the witness stand when someone throws a knife from the rear of the courtroom, Randolph is killed instantly. Michael Shayne jumps out of the jury box, takes the knife off the floor after it fell out of Randolph’s body, and hides it under the prosecution’s table. Judy Taylor sees what Shayne is up to and decides to find out what he knows.

The jury is sequestered and staying in a hotel. The night of Randolph’s murder in the courtroom, Shayne escapes the hotel via the fire escape to investigate the crime because he doesn’t believe Hubbard killed Forsythe or has anything to do with Randolph’s murder. Shayne returns to the courtroom to retrieve the knife that he hid, but Taylor is already there to retrieve it. They wrestle for the knife, which he gets away from her, but Taylor won’t let him leave without taking her along on his investigation.

(This blog post about Just Off Broadway contains spoilers.)

I know that these Michael Shayne films are really played for laughs, and calling them noir (or avant noir, a term I use instead of proto-noir) is a bit of a stretch. In addition, some of the plot details in Just Off Broadway stretch credulity, even if they are funny and make the film a joy to watch:

◊ Michael Shayne is a private detective serving on a jury. I don’t know what the legal ramifications would be in real practice or if the ramifications would depend on jurisdiction.

◊ Shayne escapes from jury sequestration to investigate the murder himself because he doesn’t believe the defendant is guilty.

◊ Shayne is the only one who notices that the knife that killed Henry Randolph has fallen on the floor. And he is the only one who has time to hide it under the district attorney’s desk. These details are a little easier to believe because Randolph is killed on the witness stand, and his murder creates shock and panic in the courtroom.

◊ Shayne and Judy Taylor escape from the police officers arriving on the scene at the Acme Storage Company by outrunning them and then jumping on a tour bus. These same officers seem to abandon the search for both of them, even though they were leaving the scene of a murder.

◊ Shayne, a juror, is allowed to question a witness on the stand, and that witness is defense attorney John Logan. Again, I don’t know what the legal ramifications would be or if the ramifications would depend on jurisdiction.

◊ Shayne solves the murder in one night, even though he visits several knife throwers, takes a tour bus ride, visits a nightclub, and interviews a jeweler, among other investigatory tasks.

So it’s true: You have to be willing to suspend disbelief several times to enjoy this film. But it really is so much fun, and none of these Shayne films were ever meant to be taken seriously.

 I have seen Just Off Broadway twice already: It’s just over an hour long. While some of the plot details are predictable and others are preposterous, seeing it twice was well worth it. It helped me to catch some details that I had missed after a single viewing. Lloyd Nolan is great—as always—as Michael Shayne, and I have enjoyed all the Shayne films that I have seen so far. I’m glad I still have one more (Time to Kill) to see. And then I get to see the Shayne films starring Hugh Beaumont.

Although her role is uncredited, I am almost positive that Virginia Mayo is the elevator operator who makes her first appearance toward the end of the film. If anyone knows for sure, please do let me know.

September 25, 1942, release date  •  Directed by Herbert I. Leeds  •  Screenplay by Arnaud d’Usseau  •  Based on an idea by Jo Eisinger and the character of Michael Shayne created by Brett Halliday  •  Music by David Raksin  •  Edited by Louis R. Loeffler  •  Cinematography by Lucien N. Andriot

Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne  •  Marjorie Weaver as Judy Taylor, news reporter  •  Phil Silvers as Roy Higgins, photographer  •  Janis Carter as Lillian Hubbard  •  Richard Derr as John Logan, defense attorney  •  Joan Valerie as Rita Darling  •  Don Costello as George Dolphin  •  Chester Clute as Sperty, Shayne’s juror-roommate  •  Francis Pierlot as Sidney Arno, jeweler  •  Grant Richards as District Attorney John F. McGonagle  •  George M. Carleton as Judge Robert Walters  •  Alexander Lockwood as Count Edmond Telmachio  •  William Haade as the night watchman  •  Leyland Hodgson as Henry Randolph, the butler  •  Oscar O’Shea as Pop, the stage door security guard  •  Virginia Mayo as the elevator operator

Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation  •  Produced by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation