Trailer—A Lady Without Passport

A Lady Without Passport

I always wondered what the story was on Hedy Lamarr. I'd never seen her in anything before this film, only heard about her in Mel Brooks jokes and so forth. Turns out she was also a Math genius, but if this film is anything to go on, she offered little more than a pretty face to the acting profession. The only thing that was memorable about this film was the location shooting in Havana. The highlight of the Cuban segment was the Mambo music and dancing as the lead walks into a seedy little nightclub. This 1950 film predates Mambo Mania in the US by a few years, by 1955 Cuba and the music that came with it were all the rage stateside and featured in numerous TV shows and films. Lots of 'Casablanca-esque' scenes of stranded refugees in this one, but unlike that film, you'll have already forgotten everybody's name by the time the credits roll.

This movie gets some good laughs for the hilarious accents and the airplane chase scene. The scene involves two toy planes suspended over scenery drawn on a conveyor belt. The belt moves below the planes as they wiggle from side to side on their wires. The escaping pilot then deliberately crashes his plane into a tree and everyone walks away. Looks like they spent all of their special effects money on accent coaches and Hedy Lamar. It gets even funnier after the Border Patrol agents go after the "aliens" to save the from crocodiles and water moccasins in the "jungle" of Florida. Castro must have watched this movie before he decided to throw the Yanks out.

Strong production values (including location shooting), good camerawork, and Hedy's beauty boost this immigration-themed programmer. The male lead is earnest but unmagnetic; the villain is above-average. **1/2 out of 4.

Good film noir with Hedy Lamarr and John Hodiak. I think John Hodiak was a weak choice for this film; but I think that piece of casting was due to the low budget of this film; Hedy was reputedly paid $90,000, because of 'Samson and Delilah' This film could have obviously been better. However, I am a big Hedy Lamarr fan, and I thought 'Lady Without Passport, A' was a good film.

Even George MacReady's usual sinister ways is not enough to save this 1950 film. Problem is that the character should have more developed to produce more vile behavior. Film is predictable since you know that Agent John Hodiak, posing as a Hungarian with an authentic accent to break up a smuggling immigrant ring, shall fall for Hedy Lamarr, who is trying to gain entrance into the United States by any means. Half-way into the film, MacReady becomes aware of who Hodiak really is and the film goes rapidly downhill from there. Even the chase through the Florida swamp lands lacks the necessary excitement.

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.

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.

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.