La femme du hasard

An enjoyable escapist fantasy shot in gleaming Trucolor in which Yvonne De Carlo sashays about the Bahamas while plainly seldom leaving the studio.

The men are mainly there to be infatuated with her. The competition comes in the form of two neurotic middle-aged women united in their loathing of De Carlo: the cool Frieda Inescort (playing an invalid with a stick and in reality already suffering from multiple sclerosis), and Barbara O'Neal - best remembered as Scarlett O'Hara's mother in 'Gone With the Wind' - again playing an ill-fated mother, this time Howard Duff's.

She is no Ava Gardner and no Rita Hayworth, but reminds of both. In fact, Ava Gardner would have done perfectly in this role, if you forget about the singing - not even Rita Hayworth would have made singing performances like that, although Yvonne's dancing isn't bad at all. And what about all the guys around her? Zachary Scott is all right and is the one who behaves well. The less said about Kurt Kasznar, the better. Howard Duff was promising indeed, the perfect man to marry, but then there was all that business about his mother, who couldn't live without him, and a godmother on top of that, who is even more possessive. The ladies play the major part in this Caribbean soap opera, although the story and intrigue is quite good and fascinating. Yvonne de Carlo remains the one star of the film, outshining everyone else and dominating every scene. Although the script is good, the dialog could have been better. The hoodlums add some spice into the soup. It's great entertainment in gorgeous surroundings, all the best in the Caribbean, but apparently the budget was a minimum, the screening is poor, and the direction seems rather casual. Nevertheless, the film is definitely worth seeing for the sake of Yvonne de Carlo and her character.

This film is a gem, epitomising the best of 1950's ' trashy films '. It is Camp in its way, and there are scenes of Yvonne de Carlo getting drunk in it worthy of Susan Hayward. The version I saw had lost some of its glowing colours, but better a poor copy than no copy at all. It has everything you want in this kind of ' exotic ' film of the period, when the poor flocked to their local cinemas to see places that only the rich could afford to go to. And often the dream is better than the reality, and in films like this Hollywood excelled peddling such dreams for a low price of admission. Howard Duff and Zachary Scott add to the colour of gamblers doomed to eventual failure, and there is a very camp scene where de Carlo swims to safety with a tall blond hunk, and both sexes would have swooned at such an erotic scene of tropical paradise. Track it down. Unavailable to find on DVD ( prove me wrong ) it should be restored to its glorious, if garish colour, and the 1950's furniture is an antique dealer's dream in itself. A definite 8 for those who need trash cinema as well as cinematic classics. And Yvonne de Carlo was definitely a presence on screen to be fondly remembered or for those who cry, who's she ? to discover.

Merely it had been filmed as an A movie it would have been a great movie since it has all the elements to be a hit: beautiful scenery and sets, scandal, money, and splendid Yvonne the Carlo at her best. Sadly, Republic was not MGM and so they made a B movie instead. Dance and sing scenes do not quite fit Miss de Carlo's style, choreography especially. Still, they are nice to watch and she looks gorgeous. Doug Duryea's character would have fit much better to Zachary Scott -who is totally wasted and has little to do with his role- rather than Howard Duff. The story has some similarity with Scarlet Angel but would have much improved with a better direction and script. Nice and entertaining film anyway.

Fairly entertaining melodrama of girl who is paid off by rich widow for supposed intrigue with her,deceased rich husband. Yvonne buys into gambling casino in the Caribbean. Naturally,she attracts the attention of the local men, including her old boyfriend,a spoiled society guy who dumped her years before. Republic was struggling to stay afloat in the fifties,still pushing out forties-style movies on a changing movie audience. Yvonne is very watchable as always and makes the most of her role. She has a good supporting cast,including a young James Arness (tv's Matt Dillon.)The photography and location work are very nice. Not a classic but pleasant time filler.