ONE NIGHT IN LISBON

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 119, 3 October 1941, Page 16

ONE NIGHT IN LISBON

(Paramount)

ERIOUS §anti-Nazi films like Pastor Hall, Escape and The Mortal Storm having failed to do as well as was hoped at the box-office,

it is reported that Hollywood is diverting its propaganda-urge into more frivolous channels, One can only hope that this report is not true or, if it is, that One Night in Lisbon is not typical of what we may now expect. This picture is not so much anti-Nazi as pro-Anglo-American collaboration, but from the viewpoint of either country is not likely to strengthen ‘the bonds of friendship. Proceeding on the thesis that "into the life of every English girl a little American should fall," it puts forward as hero Fred MacMurray, an aviator who flies bombers to England and who suffers from an over-developed mating instinct. Though no opportunity is given this young man to demonstrate his ability as a flyer, his other quality is evident from the moment he set eyes on Madeleine Carroll in an empty shelter during a London air-raid. Thereafter we are treated to the rather unedifying spectacle of Mr. MacMurray boldly advancing and Miss Carroll coyly retreating. With a manner which suggests the calm assumption that every girl he casts eyes on will find him irresistible, our American hero makes duck calls at his protesting victim, invades her bedroom, insults hem escort (an English naval commander who is so stuffy that the insults are admittedly

not undeserved). Between times he hobnobs with the West End elite in an atmosphere of rich food, champagne, tiaras, butlers, and Mayfair night-clubs which is rather at variance with the air-raids going on outside. After this reassuring evidence of a new social order in England, the film drags in a spy plot by the scruff of the neck, and the action thereupon moves to Portugal, where the hero and victim (no longer protesting) are deposited at a hotel for their Night in Lisbon. Unfortunately, the hero’s divorced wife, the high-minded naval commander, several sinister Nazis, and a disguised Earl all join the party and temporarily frustrate their plans. One Night in Lisbon has its moments of brightness and occasionally of genuine fun, but for the most part it is bogged down by silly story, laboured wisecracks, uninspired direction, and self-conscious. propaganda. And while I believe that risqué situations have a legitimate place in adult entertainment, I did find something in this: film that was rather blatant and offensive.. (Won't Mr. L. D. Austin be pleased with me!) Miss Carroll’s portrayal of virginal timidity melting into submission is not unengaging, but of Mr. MacMurray’s acting I find it difficult to write with critical calm-he is noisome as well as noisy. For the sake of the AngloAmerican understanding which this film purports to serve, it would be better for such obnoxious characterisations to be placed on the U.S.A.’s list of banned exports. And, as Mr. Roosevelt might say, you can quote me on that.