Cuba, 1933. The country has been under dictatorship for seven years. Jennifer Jones has witnessed her brother being murdered on the University steps - she swears revenge on the perpetrator, a thoroughly believable Pedro Armendariz (his eating scene is disgusting!), and is then recruited as part of a gang of rebels who plan to kill as many of the top brass as possible by blowing up a funeral via an underground tunnel. These are led by John Garfield (in subdued form), and comprise Gilbert Rowland, Ramon Novarro, Wally Cassell and David Bond. Those of us who are familiar with Huston's work are expecting this group to fall apart in some way and they inevitably do. Good screenplay from Huston and Peter Viertel, taken from a section of a novel by Robert Sylvester.
Actually filmed in Havana and the studio, it's the first Sam Speigel Horizon picture, distributed by Columbia. Russell Metty's camerawork is beautifully dark.
Music by George Anthiel.
Huston thought it pretty 'frail' material and reveals that Jones wanted direction on every single move. It's not the best Huston film but exciting and certainly interesting. It was while in Cuba that Huston first met Hemingway. And you gotta love Jen blasting away with a machine gun:
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