Main Cast: Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth, Alexander Scourby, Valerie Bettis, Torin Thatcher
Release Year: 1952
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
In this romantic spy thriller, a nightclub performer plys her trade in her husband's Trinidad bar. He is murdered by a notorious spy. Soon afterward, the police ask the widow to try to get close to the killer and gather information. Her work is nearly thwarted when her bumbling brother-in-law appears, looking to bring the killer to justice himself. This film marked the return of bombshell Rita Hayworth who had retired from movies during her marriage to Prince Aly Khan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
When released in 1952, the ads for Affair in Trinidad trumpeted "She's back!" -- indicating that the powers that be realized that the lure for potential Trinidad viewers was clearly Rita Hayworth, returning to the screen after a four-year absence. True, Glenn Ford was also on board, and he's a worthy addition, but Trinidad was made because Columbia suddenly had Hayworth on hand and needed to use her as soon as possible. As might be expected under the rushed circumstances, the resulting film is a bit of a mess; the quartet of credited screenwriters came up with no more than a tepid rehash of Gilda with a very healthy helping of Notorious thrown in, but without any character of its own. The screenplay veers all over the place, the plot is unnecessarily confusing and the characters behave in unrealistic ways simply to keep the plot moving. Director Vincent Sherman is not in top form, and the direction comes off as unfocused and unsure. That pretty much leaves things up to the cast. Hayworth's overall performance is fine, but except for the two dance sequences is unexceptional. Those musical numbers, however, more than compensate: rarely has the screen witnessed such torrid, erotic dancing. The star tears the roof off, demonstrating how in the right hands, even something as unplanned as a stray twirling of hair can be imbued with an amazing sensuality. Hayworth also enjoys chemistry with Ford, who for his part does more than adequately with a role that calls for too much superficial posturing. The supporting cast is solid, with Valerie Bettis earning very high marks. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Howard Wendell - Anderson; Karel Stepanek - Walters; George Voskovec - Dr. Franz Huebling; Steven Geray - Wittol; Walter Kohler - Peter Bronec; Juanita Moore - Dominique; Gregg Martell - Olaf; Mort Mills - Martin; Robert Boon - Pilot; Ralph Moody - Coroner; Don Blackman - Bobby; Ross Elliott - Neal Emery; Joel Fluellen - Fisherman; Roy E. Glenn, Sr. - Fisherman; Kathleen O'Malley - Stewardess; Franz Roehn - Refugee; Fred Baker - Airport Clerk; John Sherman - Englishman; Ivan Browning - Fisherman; Don Kohler - Mr. Peters
Credit
Walter Holscher - Art Director, Jena Lewis - Costume Designer, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Sam Nelson - First Assistant Director, Vincent Sherman - Director, Viola Lawrence - Editor, George Duning - Composer (Music Score), Morris W. Stoloff - Composer (Music Score), Lester Lee - Songwriter, Bob Russell - Songwriter, Clay Campbell - Makeup, Joseph Walker - Cinematographer, Vincent Sherman - Producer, William Kiernan - Set Designer, Lodge Cunningham - Sound/Sound Designer, James Gunn - Screenwriter, Virginia van Upp - Screenwriter, Oscar Saul - Screenwriter, Berne Giler - Screenwriter
Affair in Trinidad (1952) is a film produced by Hayworth's Beckworth Corporation, released by Columbia Pictures, and starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. It is notable as Hayworth's "comeback" film after four years away from Columbia, as a re-teaming of the Gilda (1946) co-stars, and for a fiery opening number danced bare-footed by Hayworth to calypso music. The film's gross take at the box office exceeded Gilda by one million dollars.
