A Lady Without Passport

A Lady Without Passport

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Produced by Samuel Marx
Written by Cyril Hume (adaptation)
Screenplay by Howard Dimsdale
Story by Lawrence Taylor
Starring
Music by David Raksin
Cinematography Paul Vogel
Edited by Fredrick Y. Smith
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • August 3, 1950 (United States)
Running time
 74 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1,088,000[1]
Box office $1,004,000[1]

A Lady Without Passport is a 1950 American film noir film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and starring Hedy Lamarr and John Hodiak. Written by Howard Dimsdale, the film is about a beautiful concentration-camp refugee who takes up residence in Cuba while waiting permission to enter the United States. An immigration agent decides to use her as bait to entrap the leader of an alien-smuggling ring. The agent falls in love with her, but she despises him for using her.

This film marked the feature film debut of actor Steven Hill.

Plot

After World War II, people try to sneak into the U.S. illegally with the help of a human smuggling ring run by Palinov (George Macready). U.S. Immigration operative Peter Karczag (John Hodiak) is sent to Havana, where he poses as a Hungarian in need of Palinov's services. During his dangerous undercover investigation, he falls in love with refugee Marianne Lorress (Hedy Lamarr).

When Palinov discovers Karczag's true purpose, he first tries to have the agent killed. When that fails, Palinov decides to use his own services. He flies to the United States, with Lorress one of the other passengers. However, the airplane is being tracked by the U.S. government. It is crash landed in the Florida swamps in one last desperate attempt to elude capture.

Cast

Production

The working title of this film was Visa and the production dates were early January through late February 1950.

Reception

Hodiak and Lamarr

According to MGM records the film earned $668,000 in the US and Canada and $336,000 elsewhere, leading to a loss of $444,000.[1]

Critical response

Despite the fact that the film was made on a small budget, most reviews find the Casablanca-like film entertaining.

When the film was released, the staff at Variety magazine praised the film, writing, "Beginning is a bit too cryptic for quick understanding, but when plotline [adapted by Cyril Hume from a suggested story by Lawrence Taylor] does take shape, the story builds and holds attention. Joseph H. Lewis' direction spins it along expertly, neatly pacing the suspenseful sequences."[2]

Time Out Film Guide praises director Lewis. "A tight little script and economically etched characters provide a strong foundation, but it is Lewis' evocative visuals that really turn this into a poverty row gem."[3]

Some critics were a bit tougher in their review. Dennis Schwartz, gave the film a mixed review, writing, "Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy/The Big Combo) does his best to make this tightly but uninspiring clichéd film noir work. But even though he adds zest and style by his solid visual directing effort, this low-budget Casablanca wannabe still lacks force. Though this is one of the much praised poverty row director's poorer films, it still is an interesting watch due to the strange effects of the visuals and the surreal atmospheric location shots."[4]

Music

The dramatic score for the film was composed by David Raksin and conducted by Johnny Green.[5]

A suite of Raksin's music that survives on the film's master tape[5] was issued on CD in 2009, on Film Score Monthly records.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ↑ Variety, film review, 1950. Accessed: July 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ Time Out Film Guide, film review.
  4. ↑ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, October 8, 2003. Accessed: July 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kaplan, Alexander (2009). David Raksin. "David Raksin at MGM (1950-1957)". Film Score Monthly (CD online notes) (Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.) 12 (2).

External links

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