Back home

Affair in Trinidad

56 votes

Producing House

A nightclub singer enlists her brother-in-law to track down her husband's killer.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1952-07-29

Runtime: 98 mins

Director: Vincent Sherman

Spoken language: English

Genres: Romance, Thriller, Mystery

Original title: Affair in Trinidad

Production Companies: The Beckworth Corporation, Columbia Pictures

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

J

John Chard
You walked out of that inquest like you were on your way to a cocktail party. Affair in Trinidad is one of those pretend film noir movies that the public seem to love more than the critics, both back then on release and also now. I was personally hoping that as a big fan of Glenn Ford, and being an admirer of Rita Hayworth, I too would be thumbing my nose at the critics. Sadly not. Directed by Vincent Sherman and with a screenplay by Berne Gilder and James Gunn, the story is set in Trinidad and pitches Hayworth as a recently widowed nightclub dancer and Ford as the deceased man's brother. The death is suspicious and as the law closes in (in the form of Torrin Thatcher) secrets will out and a bigger picture kind of emerges. Ok! Lets not compare to Gilda and Notorious, for obvious reasons, and just accept Affair in Trinidad as its own entity. What transpires is a tired tropical exercise in romance and spy like intrigue. In fact it's a bit of a hack job coasting in on the two leading stars reputations, Ford as a genre presence and Hayworth as some sort of ogle feature. The plot is ridiculous where nothing much makes sense. Character's motivations are sketchy at best, and once the screenplay plays its hand for reveal purpose, you wonder just where are the villains from and what exactly are they up to?! Is that explained or did I have a power nap?... It doesn't help that head weasel Max Fabian (Alexander Scourby) is so not threatening, and boring to boot, that it renders the intended dramatic oomph at pics finale as being akin to a damp squib. Hayworth goes through the motions in the acting scenes, only holding court with her two dance numbers (voice dubbed by Jo Ann Greer), and while Ford can brood with the best of them, his character is so poorly written it doesn't let the actor shine. As for this remotely being film noir? Not a chance, neither visually, thematically or in characterisations does it work on that film making style. Consider me bloody annoyed. 5/10
2018-11-25

Recommendations

A Perfect Murder
3.3

A Perfect Murder

1998-06-05

Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the lov

A Mighty Heart
3.2

A Mighty Heart

2007-06-22

Based on Mariane Pearl's account of the terrifying and unforgettable story of her husband, Wall Stre

We Own the Night
3.3

We Own the Night

2007-10-12

A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.

Avalanche Express
2.4

Avalanche Express

1979-09-27

CIA agent Harry Wargrave is sent to aid Gen. Marenkov, a senior Russian official, who is defecting t

Unforgettable
2.8

Unforgettable

1996-02-23

Seattle medical examiner David Krane is obsessed with solving his wife's murder. A possible solution

Addicted to Love
3.1

Addicted to Love

1997-05-23

Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life leaves him for a suave Frenchman

Domino
2.3

Domino

2019-05-31

Seeking justice for his partner’s murder by an ISIS member, a Copenhagen police officer finds himsel

Rope
4

Rope

1948-02-01

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the f

Secret Window
3.3

Secret Window

2004-03-12

Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remot

I ♥ Huckabees
3.1

I ♥ Huckabees

2004-09-10

A husband-and-wife team play detective, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, the happy duo hel

Lemming
3.3

Lemming

2005-05-11

After the death of his boss's wife, a young engineer faces the sudden psychological metamorphosis of

Mississippi Burning
3.9

Mississippi Burning

1988-12-08

Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the co

A Time to Kill
3.7

A Time to Kill

1996-07-24

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daug

Out of Time
3.2

Out of Time

2003-10-03

Matt Lee Whitlock, respected chief of police in small Banyan Key, Florida, must solve a vicious doub

Cop Land
3.4

Cop Land

1997-08-15

Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful t

Body of Evidence
2.5

Body of Evidence

1993-01-15

When an elderly millionaire is found dead with cocaine in his system, his will leaves $8 million to

Net Games
2.2

Net Games

2003-02-02

The successful publicist Adam Vance of the SFC is in the middle of a campaign to get an important Ja

Breakdown
3.5

Breakdown

1997-05-02

On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after th

Liberty Stands Still
2.7

Liberty Stands Still

2002-01-18

As the heir and current marketing director for one of the nation's biggest gun manufacturers, Libert

RoomMate
2.9

RoomMate

2013-11-09

Harumi Hagiwara lands in the hospital after being involved in an accident. She hits it off with her