Storm Over Lisbon

... in this spy versus spy Casablanca ripoff produced by Republic Pictures as yet another showcase for the beauty and non acting talents of Vera Hruba Ralston. Here she's an undercover agent, masking as a dancer, who is hired at Deresco's, a night club casino run by Erich Von Stroheim, a secret agent for hire by the highest international bidder.

Richard Arlen's in town, a Yank carrying a secret message (what it is we'll never know) but, nevertheless, all but the final outcome of the war lies in its importance. Now how to get that secret out of Arlen, the question is posed. Sound familiar? Arlen brings the excitement of a clam to his role. Ralston's excuse is that she used to be a skater, which perhaps explains her frozen performance.

Cliche plot and dull lead performances aside, Storm Over Lisbon has some impressive art deco sets, particularly an elaborate casino that is quite splashy to the eye. The film is also distinguished by the beautiful black and white photography of John Alton. There might not be anything particularly noirish about this drama but Alton still gives the film visual sheen. The film also benefits from an above average supporting cast. Aside from Von Stroheim, imperiously overlooking all, there is also Eduardo Ciannelli as an eager underling, always ready to knock someone off if things get a little slow, and Otto Kruger as a scared agent trying to figure out some way to stay alive. An uncredited Ruth Roman can also be briefly seen as a checkroom girl. She has one line of dialogue.

The atmosphere is exotic and nice, there is nothing wrong about the cinematography, the music is all the way to great advantage, so what is wrong about this film? Everything else. There is no plausible plot, the dialog is miserable, the acting is stale and sterile, there are a few gunshots now and then interrupting the general boredom, the action is absurd, a few cold-blooded murders doesn't make it any better, and I have seldom seen Erich Von Stroheim in a poorer role. As the owner of a casino he manages some sort of spy central working for the Japanese, disposing of whoever he doesn't have any use of any more. The one thing that makes this film worth watching is Vera Ralston as she dances, her first performance to the wonderful music of Borodin actually lifts the film to some level of interest, she is beautiful to watch and makes a fine performance, but she is the only one. All the others are just standard types of crooks and machos. The three street musicians also help to give the film some attraction, but on the whole it is a sorry display of just the cheapest kind of elegance. I had expected better of Erich Von Stroheim.

In my opinion, and that of many others, "Casablanca" is one of the very best films ever made. Much of it was because of the plot...but much more because of the wonderful ensemble cast. Warner Brothers used all the best supporting actors in its inventory to create a masterpiece. So, it's not surprising that another studio would try to cash in on its success. Unfortunately, this other studio was Republic. I say unfortunately because they didn't have access to nor could afford such a terrific cast. In addition, the film is saddled with studio chief Herbert Yates' personal 'favorite'.... Vera Ralston. According to most film experts, Ralston was Yates' mistress* and this alone would explain why he cast this woman in the leads in so many films, as she certainly was no great actress. Additionally, they have her doing something new here...sing and dance...and you have to see it to believe it! All in all, a recipe for mediocrity....at best.

Erich von Stroheim plays Mr. Deresco, a man who owns a nightclub in Lisbon and who is a rather amoral man. He really doesn't see too concerned about who wins the war....and is more than willing to do spying for both sides. After all, his allegiance is to Deresco. And, like in Casablanca, all sorts of stateless people arrive there in order to avoid the Nazis.

So is this third-tier "Casablanca" worth seeing...even if it stars the likes of Richard Arlen, Vera Hruba Ralston and Erich von Stroheim? Not especially. It's not terrible but sure could have been so much better with a better script and with better leads.

*Eventually Ralston and Yates did marry in 1952 after Yates divorced his wife, Petra.

Vera Hruba Ralston gets off the plane in Lisbon and goes immediately to Erich von Stroheim's nightclub. There he informs her she's working for him as a dancer, and don't date the customers. After her first number pilot Bob Livingston shows up and on von Stroheim's orders, goes drinking with him. Eventually they wind up delivering food to Richard Arlen, who's living ina. Deserted something-or-other. He's got something the Japanese government wants, and von is a spy-for-hire, ready to do whatever he gets paid for.

There's also Otto Kruger, Eduardo Cianelli,Mona Barrie, and a second over-the-top dance number in this spy movie. Everyone is pretty good, except for Miss Ralston. I should amend that: everyone seems good compared to Miss Ralston, whose every line is spoken clearly but rendered meaningless by the way she says it. She does this throughout the picture and takes it with her. For this they had to hire George Sherman to direct and John Alton to be director of photography.

This isn't the only Casablanca knock-off ever made. Republic Pictures was known for its cowboy movies (Autry, Rogers, et al) but once and awhile ventured into better pictures, especially those of John Wayne. I'm not saying this was a good movie, just that it came from a source with little experiernce of making a good movie.

I've seen several movies with Vera Ralston in the cast. I think a mention should be made of her dancing in this one. After Sonja Henie introduced dancing into women's figure skaing, every other skater took dancing lessons. Ralston was perhaps one of them.

I don't think a double was used for Ralston's dancing. If you watch it carefully (I did 3 times), watch her turns. She turns like a skater, not a dancer. Dancers don't usually pull their forearms in to turn or tuck their forearms to the chest, as Ralston did in this dance.