Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

It is a performances centric movie

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Campy melodrama about conflicts on an African plantation between two white men (Walter Pidgeon, Richard Carlson) over an exotic native girl named Tondelayo (Hedy Lamarr). It's a fun movie with a very memorable performance from Hedy. She's beautiful and sexy even behind the silly makeup. Pidgeon is great fun, yelling his way through the entire movie at every little thing that annoys him. Richard Carlson is quite good. Great support from Frank Morgan as a sympathetic doctor with a drinking problem. Nice cinematography, especially whenever Hedy is on screen. An entertaining movie with a very amusing ending. It helps if you don't take it too seriously.

One can't help but go native when encountering Tondelayo (Hedy Lamarr), a local beauty with a great dental plan In White Cargo. With western interests there to exploit the people and capitalize on their natural resources Tondelayo does a decent job of leveling the playing field with the white invaders with a brand of irresistible guerrilla sensuality that throws the boys into disarray. Langford (Richard Carlson) is a newly arrived employee of an African rubber plantation run by the British. Wirtzel (Walter Pidgeon) who is in charge doubts if he has the right stuff to put up with the oppressive heat and supervising workers who don't speak English. Langford is soon frustrated and overwhelmed but finds respite in island beauty Tondelayo. Wirtzel who has fallen victim to her allure in the past warns Langford about her and the already abrasive relationship becomes even more strained. Gold digger Tondelayo meanwhile attempts to soak Langford for everything he has before Wirtzel puts an end to it. There is more than a whiff of white supremacy in White Cargo as the savage and immoral Tondelayo without remorse plunders Carlson and tries to pit him against Wirtzel. It's all very nice to dally with the natives away from home states Frank Morgan's doctor but there is no room for miscegenation in the civilized white world. It's all very nice for them to exploit the land and people but the locals better know their place. Lamarr's Jolson look is jarring with a gleaming Ipana smile as director Richard Thorpe keeps his camera trained in close-up of her. Hedy is stilted and her performance dated but with her beauty speaking for her she is a powerful presence to contend with. Pidgeon, Carlson, Morgan and Reg Owen lend able support but the arch storyline is creaky even for 42 and Lamarr as jungle girl remains a bit of a stretch in the looks department but her beauty and tenacity make it entertaining enough and given the time (WW ll) must have been a welcome sight to overseas GIs, though my guess is they took little heed to the cautionary addendum about the dangers of fraternizing with locals message.

I'm not sure where this film was supposedly set, although they mention Africa, but it looks like the Solomons or perhaps Catalina. As outrageous as the film appears, its filled with a lot of heavy cynical rhetoric, along with all sorts of imperialistic undertones. And, of course, Hedy in a bikini-sarong throughout. Tandalayo, tantalayo. And then there's inter-racial romance, well, if not, at least, and perhaps, even more important for those racist times,marriage. Considering that almost all films from that time, or since, were maudlin claptrap, this one has some bite at times, and some strong performances. The bottom line is that any film that has this much of Hedy can't be all bad.

One can only wonder how many posters of Hedy Lamarr as Tondelayo were pinned up by soldiers in WWII. She is seductive and appealing and downright hot as a half African who spends the entire film in bra and sarong. Most of the time she is striking seductive poses and lounging on a couch showing off her magnificent body that matches her unequaled facial features.This is a comedy for the most part, and it is really funny. Frank Morgan is back, not a The Pirate, but as a drunken doctor that has probably been drummed out of the medical establishment and can only get work on this African plantation.Walter Pidgeon, who would go one to capture two Oscar nominations in the next two years (Mrs. Miniver, Madame Curie), was the leader of the plantation and the colonial law. He was hilarious as a succession of new assistants arrived in white, freshly starched clothing from the Mother Country, and all said the exact same words that drove him nuts.Of course, he warned all of them about Tondelayo, even banning her from the camp, but it was useless as they all succumbed to her charms.A must-see for those who appreciate what made our fathers happy in the Big One.