Last night's movie was "We Were Strangers"(1949), a political thriller with the heart of a crime film. Set in 1930s Cuba and directed by John Huston, it tells the story of a small band of revolutionaries who attempt to kill the President, a tyrant who rules by spreading fear. It's based on a true story and while I'm not huge on films about foreign governments (or political revolucion in general), I was drawn by it's stars, Jennifer Jones and John Garfield. You really can't do better than those two, and their presence suggested a traditional Hollywood format. One thing we've gotta get out of the way before we start is the Cuba/Koobah/Queber issue, having to do with pronunciation. Left wingers say Koobah, John F. Kennedy pronounced it Que-ber, but the correct way to say it is a combination of the two, Que-bah. Now that we have that settled, let's begin.
Jones plays "China Valdez", a bank teller whose brother is a budding revolutionary. He spreads the message by dropping pamphlets from his car. One day he's shot as he walks up the steps at his university. China sees the assassin, a secret policeman named "Ariete" (Pedro Armendariz). She swears to kill him and joins her brother's group, which is headed up by an American named "Tony Fenner" (Garfield). Fenner is looking for a way to overthrow the government. After China takes him to see her brother's grave, in an unmarked "potter's field" section of the cemetery, he gets an idea. The group will kill a senator. When his funeral is held in the very same cemetery, the President will surely attend. Fenner and the group will then detonate a bomb, which will kill him and any dignitaries present. One of the members asks "how will we place the bomb? It will be seen when we deliver it". Fenner answers, "We're gonna set it off underground. We'll dig a tunnel underneath the gravesite". China's house is close by the cemetery. They use her basement as a headquarters and tunnel from there in round the clock shifts. During this effort, which takes a month, the members of the group get to know each other.
China goes to work in the daytime, and is dogged by Ariete the secret policeman. He tries to entrap her in the usual fascist way, with a combination of charm and vaguely threatening innuendo. Because she's beautiful, Ariete wants China to like him and is offended by her association with Tony Fenner, whose cover is that he's in Cuba looking for musical talent to import to America. Ariete suspects him of being a terrorist and has China tailed, to try and find out where he's living. The performance by Pedro Armendariz as Ariete is tremendous (though the character is despicable), and there's a scene in the middle of the 105 minute movie where he "visits" China at her house. Her conspirators are hiding in the basement. Ariete proceeds to make himself at home. He's brought dinner for the two of them. China won't eat. He offers her rum. She says "I don't drink". So he eats and drinks by himself, smashing crab legs with his fist and shoving them into his already stuffed mouth. He continues to try to sweet talk China, then switches to political discourse and his role as a policeman. He's trying to justify himself to her because of his desire. It's a classic Hollywood fascist weakness - the pretty and decent woman. The Cuban version is no different than a Nazi. But China holds her ground, scared but not succumbing. Ariete drinks glass after glass of rum, and shoves more crab down his throat, until he's half crazed with lust and propaganda. Then he passes out. It's an Oscar moment for the actor Armendariz, who unfortunately committed suicide when he was only 51.
But back to the story, while Ariete is hounding China Valdez, unaware that she knows he killed her brother, Tony Fenner and his cohorts are digging the tunnel in China's basement. It's slow, hard work. The men began as strangers (hence the title) but now are getting to know one another. "Guillermo" (Gilbert Roland) is a carefree dock worker who, when he isn't digging, is always strumming his guitar. "Miguel" (Wally Cassell) is a bicycle repairman. "Ramon" (David Bond) is a graduate student of philosophy. Their politics band them together. However, when the decision is made of which Senator to kill, Ramon protests. "The man is a friend of my family. I know he supports the President, but can't we choose someone else"? Fenner tells him no. "It's too late to change our plan". Ramon starts to worry about how he will face his parents. He anticipates the guilt he will feel at taking part in the Senator's murder. This causes him to drink heavily. One night, hammered on rum, he leaves the tunnel and comes up from the basement. Staggering to a nearby market, he starts babbling to people about the Fenner group's plot. Guillermo and Miguel rush out to bring him back. I can't tell you what happens with Ramon, but it will lead to further scrutiny of their hideout.
The tunnel is dug through gruesome conditions, including a stretch where the men have to shovel below the cemetery. In the potter's field section, the bodies are buried without caskets. You can guess what happens then. But Fenner and the group press on, dedicated to the overthrow of the government. Finally they reach the burial plot of the family of the targeted Senator. He's already been gunned down by another arm of the group. His funeral is upcoming; the President is scheduled to attend, just as Fenner predicted. All that's left to do is assemble and place the bomb. But when the bombmaker arrives..........boy oh boy.
Imagine you just made a pot of chili. You spent all day, it smells really good, you can't wait to sit down to dinner. Then, when you start to ladle it out, you knock over the freakin' pot. The chili spills out all over the floor. That's kind of what happens to the plotline. Now, not to worry, because - to use the same analogy - there's still some chili left, but at first the accident leaves you very disappointed. I was going "you've gotta be kidding me", but then as I say, things are righted.
Jennifer Jones is very good as the determined but vulnerable China. John Garfield is terse and stoic as always. Former Silent star Gilbert Roland exudes Latin charisma and as noted, Pedro Armendariz steals the show. Don't worry about the glitch in the plot. It leads to a whopper of a finish and also, the story doesn't bog down in it's politics, which you might have expected from John Huston. This helps to earn "We Were Strangers" Two Huge Thumbs Up. The black and white photography is exceptional and the picture is razor sharp. Don't miss it! ////
The previous night's movie was "Special Inspector"(1938), a Canadian Quota Quickie made for Veddy Britttissh audiences and running just 55 minutes. Charles Quigley stars as "Tom Evans", a US Customs Inspector working undercover north of the border. He's posing as a truck driver in order to infiltrate a gang of fur smugglers. He and his partner "Bill" (Edgar Edwards) are hijacked on his first night on the job. Note to truck drivers of any sort in a Noir - if you're in the middle of nowhere, and you see a sign that says "Detour", don't take it. It's an ironclad rule that the detour has been set up by hoodlums who are out to shanghai your shipment. This is what happens to Quigley and Bill. But before that they pick up Rita Hayworth. She's "Patricia Lane", a young woman traveling on her own to San Francisco. Quigley and Bill meet her at a cafe. They think it would be gentlemanly to offer her a ride (yeah, right) and to their surprise she accepts. When their truck is seized at the detour, she escapes. Bill and Quigley are left stranded. Quigley now knows Bill was in on the hijacking. What he doesn't know is that earlier the gang killed Rita's brother. She's running her own investigation, which is why she hasn't gone to the police (hey wait a sec, that makes two sisters who are out to avenge their brothers' deaths. Remember Jennifer Jones in our first movie).
The plot is pretty standard for this kind of film and the dialogue is rat-a-tat-tat. That's because when you only have 55 minutes to work with, you've got to include a lot of exposition. "Special Operator" is still a lot of fun, though, and you get to see Rita in one of her earliest movies. It gets Two Solid Thumbs Up, but a very high recommendation for entertainment value, and the picture is close to razor sharp. ////
And that's all I know. I turned into a popsicle tonight on my walk. Now I'm thawing out. I send you Tons of Love, as always! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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