Vuelo a Tánger

A plane lands at Tangier with three million dollars on it. Only no one can find it. That doesn't stop Joan Fontaine, Jack Palance, Corinne Calvet, Robert Douglas and Marcel Dalio from running around the city and suburbs - actually the Paramount lot and local air port - from looking for it in a shifting web of alliances.

John Warren Marquand's movie is noteworthy more for the fact it was shot in 3D and Technicolor than in being much more than a potboiler. What Dalio was doing here is not clear; probably picking up a paycheck. After all, in a career that spanned half a century and included THE RULES OF THE GAME and SUPERMWITCH OF LOVE ISLAND, there were highs and lows and a lot of in-betweens. This is somewhere in between. Potboiler, programmer, call it what you will, this clearly was intended for writer-director Marquand's break out of the 'shaky A' western, but despite the glossy cast and Ray Rennahan in charge of the camera, it doesn't offer anything special except the gimmick of 3D; and I saw it in a flat TV print, so that wasn't there

And also surprisingly directed by Charles Marquis Warren, rather known for being a western maker. But besides this adventure film, he also gave us UNKNOWN TERROR and BACK FROM THE DEAD. Non western films, as you can guess. I won't speak of DESERT HELL, which I seek since several decades now, but without any luck. I guess it is now forever lost or drowned under tons of dust in a remote vault somewhere. So, back to this one, Corinne Calveet and Jack Palance steal the show. Charles Marquis Warren uses here the same recipe that he shows in westerns, same way of story telling, but for other settings, surroundings, and that's for me the trademark of a great director, or at least a very good technician.

Flight to Tangiers (1953)

An odd Technicolor movie, not yet fully widescreen, with the impeccable Joan Fontaine being impeccable, and Jack Palance as his suspicious, quirky self. The setting is Tangiers, though the shooting is all in Hollywood. This is no Casablanca, for sure, despite the mixture of American expatriates in a North African port city. (There is even a point when Fontaine says, "America," and Palance clarifies, "Lisbon, then America," just as in Casablanca.)

The plot overall gets far more complex than it needs to be, with a plane going down in an exciting beginning and then a whole slew of people having some interest in what went missing in the wreckage. The complexities are told more than shown (just by having characters talk to each other). As much as I wanted to love this movie (as much as I love Fontaine), I couldn't do it. And it even looks good--not only the color, but the light and sets.

"In America, do they think you're beautiful?" says a European beauty to the American Joan Fontaine.

"I don't know," Fontaine replies, and it sums her up, especially a decade after her flirting with the Academy Awards (she won one). I dwell on this because Fontaine rises above this middling movie. And there is an odd competition between the Euro girl and the American one, and Fontaine is made to outclass her even though the other is more clearly a young, voluptuous type. It's mostly silly stuff.

The gorgeously lit night scenes, far too perfect for location shooting of the time, and the careful, luxuriating pace are wonderful in their own way. The color (including the famous Technicolor control of set design) is terrific in a way you forget is possible with modern movies, which look good but simply different than these 40s and 50s gems. One great little moment (that almost gives away the mood in the shooting behind the camera) is at 1:25:10 where the guy smoking and walking toward flicks the cigarette right at the lens. I guess this is the level of boredom I was at, too, noticing and caring.

But the plot really doesn't hold water long enough to suck you in or make the movie come alive. The arms dealing, backstabbing, foreign intrigue stuff is not enough in itself, and when they drop the phrase "Iron Curtain" into the mix it feels like a last minute add on, not relating to the events in North Africa at all. The director, by the way, Charles Marquis Warren, is also the writer, and he has a slim reputation on both counts. This is one reason why.

Fontaine devotees, give this a close look. Jack Palance devotee? Less essential, for sure, but interesting. The rest of you, I'm not sure I'd recommend it in particular.

The resounding success of "Casablanca" (1942), brought about an avalanche of movies hoping to capitalize on the elements of its success.

For an exotic location, Casablanca was already taken, but Tangier would do. Great, a caper in Tangier, with international tentacles; an American star (Jack Palance) and his girl (Joan Fontaine); a bunch of non-native baddies; and the French police lurking in the background.

The movie was written and directed by Charles Marquis Warren (helped develop "Rawhide" and "Gunsmoke" for TV).

I won't get into the plot. You can look it up or simply watch the film on YouTube. Warren must have had quite an imagination, because the narrative was not too bad. The problem with the movie was in the execution. Palance fell flat as a romantic lead. The script was flimsy. Direction failed to bring out the best in Fontaine and in the key supporting cast. What we got was a rather dull and boring film. The drama came across as superficial and was not very convincing, so the thriller effect does not come across as it could have.

I watched this movie to discover how Arabs were portrayed, but there was not much depiction of the natives. The movie was not interested in the natives. Tangier was just a stage and even then, much of the events take place outside the city proper.

The movie was shot in its entirety at Paramount studies. The studio created quite a sophisticated replica of the narrow streets of Tangier, complete with costumed extras walking back and forth, and donkey-driven carts.

The greatest claim to fame for the film m, however, was that it was the second of only two 3D films shot in Technicolor.

The film is rated 5.3 on IMDb.

This was the movie Carla Jean was watching in " No Country For Old Men" when Lewellyn returned with the drug money.

Why did the Coen Brothers select this film? They certainly had seen this film and selected it for some oblique artistic reason or simply because they liked the movie. I've never seen this film. Is there some aspect of Flight To Tangier" that links it to "No Country For Old Men?"

Would anyone disagree that the Coen Brothers are way too sophisticated and detailed oriented to simply throw any movie on a television one of their characters was viewing?

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