A shamelessly melodramatic tale of a Romanian man trying to get into America via Mexico by tricking a visiting school teacher into marrying him. Charles Boyer is the con man and Olivia de Havilland is the innocent teacher; both turn in excellent performances. It's hard not to get swept up in the romance as Boyer purrs "It is not this kiss I want. It is all your kisses. It's all your life," even though we know he's being disingenuous, and worse yet, has an old lover (Paulette Godard) waiting in the wings for him. You can probably guess how it's going to go, but some of the twists the story takes in getting there are less predictable, and there's also some pretty nice footage in a Mexican town and out on a beach. Early on we also get cameos of Veronica Lake and director Mitchell Leisen on a Hollywood film set, from which most of the story is told in a flashback.
As immigration is such a hot button issue in America these days, it was interesting to get the film's position on it, even if that position is not all that surprising. It holds America up as a virtuous land of immigrants and quotes the "tired, poor, huddled masses" line from the Statue of Liberty, but on the other hand, it doesn't want people cheating to get in (the immigration officer, played by Walter Abel, is a sympathetic character). Olivia de Havilland's characters points out how people criticizing immigrants were descended from immigrants too (unless they were related to Pocahontas, as she puts it), and the ideal of how every immigrant has a chance to be successful in America. On the other hand, it was a little tough to hear her say "scum" at the end of an exchange that started off so well:
Make of that what you will, or maybe don't make too much of it. The film is a romance first and foremost with this as its backdrop, and like many romances, it's idealized and sentimental. If you like that sort of thing, and want to see 25-year-old Olivia de Havilland in part to honor her recent passing as I did, this could be your film.
As immigration is such a hot button issue in America these days, it was interesting to get the film's position on it, even if that position is not all that surprising. It holds America up as a virtuous land of immigrants and quotes the "tired, poor, huddled masses" line from the Statue of Liberty, but on the other hand, it doesn't want people cheating to get in (the immigration officer, played by Walter Abel, is a sympathetic character). Olivia de Havilland's characters points out how people criticizing immigrants were descended from immigrants too (unless they were related to Pocahontas, as she puts it), and the ideal of how every immigrant has a chance to be successful in America. On the other hand, it was a little tough to hear her say "scum" at the end of an exchange that started off so well:
- It's like a lake, clear and fresh, and it'll never get stagnant while new streams are flowing in.
- Well, your people are building pretty high dams to stop those streams.
- Just to keep out the scum, Georges.
Make of that what you will, or maybe don't make too much of it. The film is a romance first and foremost with this as its backdrop, and like many romances, it's idealized and sentimental. If you like that sort of thing, and want to see 25-year-old Olivia de Havilland in part to honor her recent passing as I did, this could be your film.