AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

mark.waltz Growing up, I knew Joan Bennett as the strong matriarch of the gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows", but in studying classic film, I have suddenly been drawn to her incredible career which seemed to constantly reinvent itself. This forgotten gem is one of the key moments in her career. After a decade of being a blonde and sometimes cast in bland heroine roles, Bennett got to change her look on screen and go from long suffering to femme fatale, here believing that she has killed Sidney Blackmer who badly disrespected her sister, causing the unseen woman to kill herself. The San Francisco police are instantly on her trail, following her to Hawaii and pretty much all over the world, searching for a blonde woman rather than the dark haired mysterious woman she has transformed herself into. With the dimwitted Ralph Bellamy initially on the case (and completely screwing it up by believing that she has driven into the sea to escape capture), head detective Thomas Mitchell brings the much craftier Frederic March (whom he had previously fired) onto the case. March's "Girl Friday" (Ann Sothern in a scene stealing supporting part) follows him all over, hoping to collect on the reward, and in a very funny sequence, is confused by Bellamy to be Bennett and handcuffed in order to be taken back to San Francisco.As the romance blooms between Bennett and March, it becomes unclear whether he is simply using romance to get her back to face justice so HE can collect the reward or if he is truly in love with her and biding time to find a way of getting her off. That is the intriguing element of this smoothly written caper, given some exotic locations to move their romance along. It would be easy to write off the twists at the end as a convenient way to wrap things up, but after thinking about it, I found it completely plausible. They have excellent chemistry, with Bellamy a delightful nitwit and Sothern superbly funny as the dame who wants to prove that anything that March can do, she can do better. This puts you completely in the hands of the writers who take you along on this journey. In many ways, it reminded me of "One Way Passage", although the circumstances are quite different, because the romantic mood really strikes when typical American tourists end up in settings we can only fantasize about. Bennett is a combination of tender, loyal, sultry, cynical and just plain charming. March, like his reporter in "Nothing Sacred", seems to be winking at the audience, and that adds a great deal to his character's charm even though at times, he appears to be like a snake in the grass. The fact that a film can mix artistic integrity in with typical elements of screwball comedy and romantic intrigue puts this a notch above many other similar films, a testimony to the brilliant script which none other than Dorothy Parker contributed to.

blanche-2 "Trade Winds" is a comedy-drama starring Joan Bennett, Frederic March, Ralph Bellamy, and Ann Sothern, directed by Tay Garnett.Bennett plays Kay Kerrigan, a young woman who is out to avenge her sister's death and goes after her sister's ex-boyfriend (Sidney Blackmer). When Kay says she wishes she could shoot him, he hands her a gun and she shoots. Then she starts running for her life. To change her appearance, she dyes her hair dark. This turned out to be a boon for Bennett, who took on an exciting new look with the dark hair.The police send one of their own after her, Ben Blodgett (Ralph Bellamy) and one of their ex-own, the womanizing, slippery Sam Wye (March), now a detective who spends a lot of time coming on to women. He's also romancing his secretary Jean (Ann Sothern). He agrees to search for Kay and manages to get away from from Jean and hop a boat. He gets a line on Kay, and when Jean next appears, she's an assistant to Kay. Then Sam finds out there's a $100,000 award on Kay's head. Small problem - he falls madly in love with Kay.Fun comedy that slows up in the middle, with good performances by a relaxed March, a very funny Sothern, a lovely Bennett, and Bellamy as an overblown police detective. Not the best, but not bad - except for some of the process shots.

Neil Doyle Despite contributions to the script by witty Dorothy Parker, TRADE WINDS is tough going for most of its running time. JOAN BENNETT plays a woman running away from a murder charge who is trailed to exotic locations by FREDRIC MARCH and RALPH BELLAMY, detectives hot on her trail.March falls in love with her and faces the dilemma of turning her in to the authorities, while Bellamy finds romance with wise-cracking secretary ANN SOTHERN. That's about it, for the plot. The suspense lies in learning when and how the Bennett/March romance will flounder and come to some sort of resolution for the final reel.Director Tay Garnett makes heavy use of his home movies for all of the process shots used extensively throughout filming. The effects cheapen the images on screen so that never for a moment do you feel that these events are taking place in actual locales, only in front of a process screen full of faded images.Silliness of the comedy interludes are imposed on any dramatic elements the story has, making for an uneven mixture of comedy and drama.Joan Bennett's transformation to a stunning brunette changed the course of her career as she goes from blonde to brunette to avoid capture. It's the only interesting aspect of the photoplay for this viewer.Performances are competent with Sothern and Bellamy vying for attention in some amusing byplay that at least gives some indication of Dorothy Parker's contribution. But generally speaking, the comic moments are strained and appear more foolish than witty. Revelation of the events surrounding Bennett's murder charge strikes a false note for the ending.

Harri85274 I must say Joan looked like Hedy Lamarr, and that is the ultimate compliment in this movie. In fact, the comics of the day, usually made jokes about her and Hedy...something like this..."Hedy so fair...why does she make Joan Bennett wear all her old hair". Years later, in an interview Joan said that she didn't think Hedy appreciated the joke..but I read otherwise, Hedy couldn't stop laughing..go figure. Anyhow, the movie was so-so, Ann Sothern, my favorite, had the usual barbs. I also read that since Joan did her Hedy turn, she got more popular than as a blond and apparently made movies that Hedy couldn't do because of her foreign accent and so Joan made a lot more movies and some pretty good ones...and yet, she never became the super star that Hedy became. Please take note..in 1950 she replaced Hedy in the "Father of the Bride". cause Hedy was too young to be Elizabeth's mother...Joan was 4 years older than Hedy.