Trade Winds

Detective (March) goes on globe-hopping quest to return suspected murderess (Bennett) to authorities. He's aided by two bumblers (Sothern & Bellamy), at the same time he falls for his attractive quarry.

Not quite a sophisticated comedy, not quite a picaresque chase, not quite a murder mystery- - all add up to a not very good movie. Hard to believe this is from glossy MGM since the production values are nearly incompetent. In fact, I've seen better process shots from a Lash LaRue oater, and since these make up half the movie, you've got to wonder where quality control was.

I'm assuming acerbic wit Dorothy Parker and husband Alan Campbell were hired to furnish sophisticated banter for the two couples. If so, I must have missed it. What I did hear were subtle grammar gaffes from Sothern (e.g. 'whom for 'who') and clever malaprops (e.g. 'deduct' for 'deduce') from Bellamy, intended, I guess, to show their humorous pretensions, but hardly crowd-pleasers.

Also, it looks like Bellamy's buffoonish cop amounts to a typical example of 30's cops when Hollywood treated them as low-comedy relief. And whose idea was it to tack on the last 10-minutes of whodunit that sort of sticks out like a glued on appendage.

Where the movie does work is with the lovely Bennett and the comedically gifted Sothern. Still, it's a bit puzzling why the movie didn't turn out better given the talent involved, including ace producer Walter Wanger. Maybe it has to do with as many as four writers and who knows how many re-writes or with director Garnett's inability to forge a unifying style. But, whatever the reason, the film remains a somewhat unlikely disappointment.

It was not really funny. It was not really a mystery because we saw the shooting and heard the cop's description of the murder and that was not what we had witnessed and so we knew what would eventually happen somewhere down the pike.

When the "mystery" was cleared up we had never met the perpetrator before OR that person had been too insignificant to notice. And the finale seemed rushed and pointless.

As for the talent being wasted ... Ann Sothern TRIED but her dialogue was forced. Ralph Bellamy is too smart to play stupid convincingly, Joan Bennett and Frederic March seemed unconvincing as a romancing pair.

The rear projection was pitiful ...even for being the first feature to use it extensively. Lame and distracting.

Skip this one !

I first saw this movie as a teen eons ago while my parents were busy playing cards at the home of friends, and have loved it ever since. Since my last viewing was over 20 years ago, I would love to have this on DVD to enjoy it again! I love all the characters, and lovely Joan Bennett indeed looked SMASHING as a brunette, which she kept for the rest of her long career. Very appealing was the insouciance of Fredric March's character, the smart humor of bubbly Ann Sothern's part, and the determined dorkiness of Ralph Bellamy's eager beaver character plus an interesting and engaging story.

Let's get this released, people that have the say-so!

This isn't a serious movie, like the genres assigned by IMDb would suggest. It's first and foremost comedy and romance. Crime is only the background. In fact, the crime aspect is a bit rushed in the beginning so they can move on to the comedy and romance. So if you're expecting a serious film, this isn't it. Ralph Bellamy is total comedy through the whole thing, as well as Ann Sothern.

I did submit comedy as an additional genre to IMDb and explained why, but they declined for no reason, so I'm letting you know here, in this review.

If you watch it knowing it's a comedy (I had no idea, so I was pretty annoyed), it's not bad, but the pacing is off. The actors are very good in their roles though. Overall it's a bit of a strange movie with lots of silliness and traveling and some things that don't quite add up. But if you're looking for a laugh with a sort of held together story and good acting, this will suit.

Despite contributions to the script by witty Dorothy Parker, TRADE WINDS is tough going for most of its running time. JOAN BENNETT plays a woman running away from a murder charge who is trailed to exotic locations by FREDRIC MARCH and RALPH BELLAMY, detectives hot on her trail.

March falls in love with her and faces the dilemma of turning her in to the authorities, while Bellamy finds romance with wise-cracking secretary ANN SOTHERN. That's about it, for the plot. The suspense lies in learning when and how the Bennett/March romance will flounder and come to some sort of resolution for the final reel.

Director Tay Garnett makes heavy use of his home movies for all of the process shots used extensively throughout filming. The effects cheapen the images on screen so that never for a moment do you feel that these events are taking place in actual locales, only in front of a process screen full of faded images.

Silliness of the comedy interludes are imposed on any dramatic elements the story has, making for an uneven mixture of comedy and drama.

Joan Bennett's transformation to a stunning brunette changed the course of her career as she goes from blonde to brunette to avoid capture. It's the only interesting aspect of the photoplay for this viewer.

Performances are competent with Sothern and Bellamy vying for attention in some amusing byplay that at least gives some indication of Dorothy Parker's contribution. But generally speaking, the comic moments are strained and appear more foolish than witty. Revelation of the events surrounding Bennett's murder charge strikes a false note for the ending.