L'amante

History repeats itself, again and again. Cuba was a magnet for people running away from Europe, before and after WWII. The country was a stepping stone for entering legally, or illegally, in the United States. At that time Cubans lived somewhat placidly in their land, but as things changed there, they are the ones trying to escape from the horrible conditions in that country.

We are taken along to Havana by an Inmigration officer trying to find who is behind the smuggling of illegal refugees into America. This officer gets to know soon after his arrival the connection is Polinov, a shady character who has a pretty thing going operating from his Gulf Stream bar in the old section of town.

Joseph H. Lewis directed this MGM film that has a look of being a B type picture, even though Hedy Lamarr was the main attraction going for it. Ms. Lamarr was totally wasted in the movie. As Marianne, the gorgeous woman who wants to get to America, she shows hardly any emotion and is, in general, a bland addition to the film. John Hodiak shows some intensity and speaks with a heavy accent. George Macready is the evil Palinov.

The film shows a few scenes taken in Havana in all its beauty.

Hedy Lamarr is the Lady Without a Passport, stuck in Havana and looking to get to the USA by any means necessary. George Macready is willing to help for a hefty price. John Hodiak is an immigration cop who is undercover investigating Macready's activities. Both have taken an interest in Lamarr and who could blame them for that.

Hedy's career had been sliding downhill until her film just prior to A Lady Without a Passport. She had just come off Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah which was a comeback film for her.

So from a mammoth multimillion dollar Cecil B. DeMille film, Hedy went into this? Don't get me wrong, A Lady Without a Passport is a good low budget crime drama. But I would have thought Hedy must have gotten better offers after Samson and Delilah.

Anyway though it's worth a look. George Macready is always one of the most fascinating villains the screen has ever produced.

It almost feels "A Lady Without Passport" shot today could be a comedy: John Hodiak playing half the film with a Cuban accent, Hedy Lamarr, the ice-cold Jewish princess often seeming not the least bit interested... but, it's meant serious and has a solid feel. Not badly directed by Benny Lewis' brother, Joseph, shot mostly on Lot 3 doubling for pre-Castro Havana, S. Florida and the Everglades (the swamp buggy was authentic, the café sequence, a set), the location work with doubles in Florida and Cuba cuts smoothly with principal photography, though the miniature work is a little choppy. David Raksin's atonal score pulls together the films dark 50s moods of terror and careful optimism.

Not the best film that Hedy Lamarr has been in, but certainly another chance to enjoy this incredibly beautiful and talented actress. She made this semi-documentary film noir after Samson and Delilah. Supposedly, she got paid some big bucks as she was a hot property at the time.

The story takes place in pre-Castro Cuba, but it is basically the same as today. It was a jumping off spot for refugees from Europe who wanted to come to the US. Hedy plays a Buchenwald concentration camp victim that has been bouncing around, is broke, and only 90 miles from her dream.

She runs into an INS agent (John Hodiak) that is working undercover to find out about the smugging into the US. Director Joseph H. Lewis was more familiar with westerns, and you can see that here as Hodiak ends up playing Dudley Do-right and rescuing Nell (Lamarr) from Snidely Whiplash (George Macready, who plays a great cultured bad guy).

A quality story, it's not, but. hey, we came here for Hedy.

Hedy wanted to go back to her old studio, MGM with some pride after her great success in Samson and Delilah. Mayer wanted her so badly, he first offered her the role of Poppea in Quo Vadis with her old co star Robert Taylor from Lady of the Tropics. Fortunately she refused that role. Then Mayer offered her this role when it was originally titled "Visa". She didn't think much of it either, but she was quite satisfied as bleeding Mr Mayer of $90000.00 for the role. He wanted to capitalize on her 'comeback' and he reluctantly agreed. Getting money out of him was like getting water out of a rock. It was quite a feat for Hedy. It was a very high price for an actress at that time. Today, even starlets get that amount. But it turned out to be a nice little film, mainly because of her beauty. Hodiak was not the ideal leading man. Mcready was his typical nasty self and very good.