Appointment in Honduras

When Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948, there was a massive shake-up. The new boss was unhappy with key personnel that had made deals he did not approve of...he quickly fired producer Dore Schary. (Schary moved over to MGM, which led to L. B. Mayer's ouster.) But the shake-ups were not only at the top.

Hughes was not enamored with some of the starlets on contract and sought to rid himself of them. For example, he wasn't particularly fond of Barbara Bel Geddes, who had recently triumphed under Schary's guidance with the nostalgic favorite I REMEMBER MAMA. The movie mogul quickly loaned her out with Robert Ryan to MGM for its Max Ophuls-directed noir CAUGHT (which ironically featured a main character modeled on Hughes himself).

But Bel Geddes wasn't the only actress Hughes had taken a disliking to when he gained control. His other castoff was proven A-list star Ann Sheridan, who had just finished a long association at Warners and was now freelancing. Sheridan's agent had negotiated a deal for her to star in her next picture at RKO. This deal was brokered by Schary, just as Hughes was taking over the studio.

Sheridan had many perks in her new RKO deal. She was to be paid $150,000 for a romantic drama called MY FORBIDDEN PAST, plus 10% of the profits. She also had approval over casting, the script, and other important items such as who would direct. Robert Young, who was under contract with RKO at this time, was originally chosen as her costar but due to a scheduling conflict he was forced to drop out. Sheridan gave Hughes a list of five acceptable male costars who might replace Young. One of the five was Robert Mitchum, who did the picture.

But Hughes had something else in mind. Not only would he replace Young with Mitchum, he would replace Sheridan with Ava Gardner. He felt Sheridan was not as sexy as Gardner and convinced MGM to lend Gardner to him.

As a result of the switch, Sheridan was now suddenly out of a job at RKO. Except, unlike Bel Geddes, she had a much more ironclad contract. She and her agent waited until MY FORBIDDEN PAST had completed principle photography with Gardner, then they sued Hughes and the studio for $300,000 for breach of contract-- which was double the original amount she would have been paid if Hughes had kept her in the film.

Meanwhile, Sheridan starred at Fox in the hit comedy I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE with Cary Grant. She followed it up with a sharp satire called STELLA, then went to Universal for a film with director Douglas Sirk. So her movie career was not harmed by feuding with Hughes.

Hughes and his high-powered attorneys fought Sheridan, but they did not succeed. The actress prevailed and was paid for not appearing in MY FORBIDDEN PAST (the Ava Gardner picture lost money at the box office so there was no percentage of the profits to award Sheridan). Then, for the other $150,000 sum, RKO was ordered to put Sheridan in a new picture. Two years later she finally did go to work at the studio in an action adventure called APPOINTMENT IN HONDURAS with Glenn Ford and Zachary Scott.

Howard Hughes learned the hard way. You do not mess with Ann Sheridan when she's holding all the cards.

Bad script, bad editing, bad direction, bad film but great for fans of really bad movies with interesting casts: Glen Ford, still leading man quality; Zachary Scott with his usual smooth performance; and Ann Sheridan, the reason I bought the DVD, always worth watching even if her good roles were in the past. As they wandered through the jungle I kept wondering why they didn't just step off the set and go the commissary. Things I liked were the red-yellow color tones on the DVD I saw and the crude - scratching on film - special effects of the ants and the flying insects, whatever they were and it was interesting to see Stuart Whitman in a small role as the telegraph operator at the beginning and Jack Elam as one of the bad guys.

Steve Corbett (Glen Ford) is given a mission to find a former Honduras president who was recently deposed in a result of a coup d'etat in order to give him money that will help him to come back to power. In order to do that he is made to join a group of prisoners who were being transported on a boat, force the captain to take them to the shore and set them free, taking as hostages an American couple (played by Ann Sheridan and Zachary Scott) and embark on a dangerous journey through Central American jungle in order to fulfill his mission whatever the cost.

Though the film has it's interesting moments, such as location shots of the jungle and it's inhabitants, the story is weak with uninteresting characters not managing to convince one to care for them. 5/10

It was with some interest that I read that Appointment in Honduras was shot in the Los Angeles Botanical Gardens serving as the Central American jungle. We should probably be grateful that RKO did spring for color and did not use the old King Kong set once again.

I can see the minds at RKO now (read Howard Hughes). Rita Hayworth is Harry Cohn's main meal ticket at Columbia, no getting here, but we can probably get Glenn Ford's services. Since they were such a popular screen team, we can team Ford with another redhead and see if the public will buy it. Ann Sheridan was past her best days and she'd work cheap, so the team of Ford and Sheridan was sent to the tropics.

Central America was in the news at the time. The Central Intelligence Agency had a big hand in overthrowing the government in Guatemala of Jacobo Arbenz. Ford's role is rather unclear in this film. At the end he identifies himself as a planter, but I suspect he's probably got some CIA involvement.

The film opens with Ford on a tramp steamer off Central America. He's got a mission of some kind and HAS to get off there, but the captain won't stop. So Ford's got some bad choices to make. He frees some convicts headed by Rudolfo Acosta to help him get ashore. They in turn take quarreling couple, Zachary Scott and Ann Sheridan along as hostages. Acosta's idea, not Ford's.

After that it's a competition between the steamy jungle and the steamier romance heating up between Ford and Sheridan. The two of them do their best, but they're not Ford and Hayworth. It's definitely not Gilda, it's not even Affair in Trinidad.

Some nice color cinematography of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is the best thing about Appointment in Honduras. Maybe it might stimulate one to go there to see where a Thanksgiving beauty was shot.

This movie has an interesting plot. A wealthy couple is taken hostage and taken through the jungle of Honduras by bandits and Corben, a man that tries to set the group to his hand with promises and lies if necessary. They don't only have to fight the dangers of a jungle, but there's also a strong film noir element going on with the characters. They are all different and have all different plans with their future, but have to put up with each other to survive the jungle. It's a bit like how the characters in Ford's Stagecoach are played out against/for each other. The movie feels somewhat dated since it's so obvious it is recorded in studios, but like most Tourneurs, it's fine for a late rainy night at home. APPOINTMENT IN HONDURAS couldn't get my attention throughout the whole movie though, but I'll keep the video tape still. 5/10