Lady of the Tropics

Supposedly set in Saigon, Vietnam, yet the dancing scene at the temple was from Bangkok, Thailand. When Robert Taylor struggles to communicate with a shopkeeper, he tries to make her understand 'god' by saying 'Allah'. Was Hollywood really as stupid as all that, or did it just not give a damn? Hedy Lamar is pretty, though.

A group of the yacht set sails into French Indochina at Saigon. American playboy Bill Carey (Robert Taylor) is accompanied by his girlfriend, but he falls for exotic half-caste beauty Manon DeVargnes (Hedy Lamarr). Her second-class status does make it difficult. Hedy Lamarr may be exotic for old Hollywood, but she has no Asian traits. There is no denying that there is plenty of eastern exoticism, but it feels more Thai than Vietnamese. I don't think anybody would notice back then. I don't like their initial meet-cute. It's a meet, but there's no cute. She's way too cold there. The hat purchase is much better. It's a better cute. There is a few yellow-faced acting, but that's old school Hollywood. There's a good story within this, but the old Hollywood tendencies make it more difficult.

I remember when I was living in Vietnam, I was told that Eurasian women were the most beautiful in the World. The French-Vietnamese women that I saw were indeed exquisite. Hedy Lamarr was perfectly caste as one of these women, and her performance in this film was so romantic that one would want to see it over and over. This fine film featured Oscar-nominated cinematography, a script by the great Ben Hecht (Wuthering Heights, Notorious, The Scoundrel, Underworld), and Robert Taylor as the leading man. The story is as old as time and you cannot fail to be moved by the tragedy.