La femme aux cigarettes blondes

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!

Was there ever a more relaxed, charming rogue than Frederic March? He would have been a perfect James Bond, had the role been available to him in the '30s. As it is, he made do spectacularly with this one: he's Sam Wye, a former SFPD detective, hired to find and bring back the luminous Joan Bennett, who's suspected of murdering Sidney Blackmer... When her car goes into the Bay, she swims ashore and goes on the run... The action roves as the trade winds of the title, straying from the piers of the city by the Bay to Honolulu, Singapore, Tokyo, Hanoi, and Colombo, Ceylon. Ralph Bellamy,side-hick to March, sez: "Colombo? I thought that was in Ohio..." Ann Sothern is glamorous, and Joan Bennett sizzles. This is the movie in which she dyed her hair black -- and then kept it dark for the next 50 years...leaving the blonde Bennett roles to sister Constance. As a glimpse of pre-War Asia, and an insight into the world before terrorism, this is a charming and lovely memory. You'll yearn for the time when cruise attire was more than sweatsuits and sneakers...and all this with dialog by Dorothy Parker!

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.

"Trade Winds" has some enjoyable moments. This Tay Garnett-directed independent feature has the beautiful and talented Joan Bennett as a murderess on the run in the Orient pursued by a skirt-chasing former policeman played by a very miscast Fredric March. The film veers from whodunit, to travelogue, to screwball comedy, to romance, to courtroom drama without much consistency. Because the major emphasis is on comedy and romance, the film needs the versatility of a Fred MacMurray in the lead. Although a fine actor, March is out of his element in a role that requires a lighter touch.

The usually reliable Ralph Bellamy, who excelled as the proverbial light comic "other man" in classics like "His Girl Friday," "The Awful Truth," and "Brother Orchid," ends up as an oafish buffoon of a policeman of the type often played by Edgar or Tom Kennedy. His performance clashes with March's and at times he seems out of an alternative universe. Although Ann Sothern has a very enjoyable drunk scene, she's underutilized, and the usually reliable Thomas Mitchell is given little to do but growl as a police commissioner... wasted in a role than would have usually gone to a William Frawley.

The film's inconsistencies are likely the fault of writer/director Tay Garnett, who had a lengthy but inconsistent career resume' with at least one masterpiece ("The Postman Always Rings Twice") to his credit. He did helm some films with similar elements to "Trade Winds": "One Way Passage" with Powell and Francis, "Seven Sinners" with Dietrich and Wayne, and "China Seas" with Gable and Harlow, but unfortunately Garnett never developed a consistent style, and by the 1950s he was directing TV Western series episodes like "Death Valley Days" and "Bonanza". With a steadier hand like a Howard Hawks at the helm, and more appropriate cast choices "Trade Winds" may have been a minor classic, but now it's just a curiosity. By the way, two interesting sidebars: Dorothy Parker (of Algonquin Round Table fame) was a collaborator on the script and the enigmatic Dorothy Comingore appears briefly here (under the name Linda Winters) several years before her triumph in "Citizen Kane."

Rich girl Joan Bennett is wanted by the police - it looks like she shot the man who ruined her sister's life. Thinking fast, Bennett drives her car into the San Francisco Bay, dyes her hair, and hops a boat for Hawaii.

The cops call in clever but unpredictable detective Fredric March, who follows Bennett's trail, easily catches up with her - and then instead of arresting her, falls in love with her.

Also involved in the chase is Ralph Bellamy as the detective sent along to assist March - he thinks he's pretty sharp but is always at least one step behind everyone else. Ann Sothern is March's secretary who is supposed to be home minding the shop but steadfastly follows the action wherever it leads, gradually befriending Bennett and then working up a little romance of her own with Bellamy.

The globe trotting story covers lots of territory and includes some fun travelogue-type footage. March and Bennett are both fine in the lead roles, although their inevitable romance is never too surprising. Sothern is outstanding as the unflappable secretary who refuses to be ignored, and Bellamy is hilarious as the super-confident dolt.

The plot is just okay, but enthusiastic performances make this one plenty of fun.