Noches de Acapulco

source: Noches de Acapulco

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Republic Pictures dragged out the tired amnesia cliche for a low-budget mystery, "A Woman's Devotion," and wasted a good cast in the process. With a title better suited to a Douglas Sirk melodrama, the film involves a young American couple on holiday in Acapulco, Mexico. The husband is an accomplished artist, and, when a young waitress that he had asked to model for him is found murdered, the local police come calling. Filmed on location by Mexican cinematographer Jorge Stahl, Jr., the film is colorful both on the Acapulco streets and waterfront and in the brightly hued hotel interiors. A young and handsome Ralph Meeker plays Trevor Stevenson, the decorated veteran, whose uncle's bequest left him sufficient funds to pursue art. Lovely Janice Rule is Trevor's wife of one year, whose trust in her husband is challenged when his hidden past is revealed. Golden Age actor Paul Henreid not only stars as Captain Monteros, the local Mexican police officer, but also directed the film. Meeker does his best with a strange role in which he wrestles with headaches caused by loud sounds that result in war-induced amnesia; possibly being groomed for hunk parts, Meeker doffs his shirt whenever possible. Rule also has a strange role as a wife who apparently knows little about her husband's past or medical history; despite professing belief in her husband's story, she is quick to seek an escape from the country. Henreid plays himself and sprinkles his Austrian accent with a few words of Spanish to pass as Mexican in an undemanding role. The film is also of note because two of the women guests at the hotel are evidently a same-sex couple, and their presence passes without comment. Unfortunately, Robert Hill's story and screenplay are undistinguished, cliched, and predictable. The three leads have all done better work both before and after; Meeker on Broadway and Television, Rule in Film, and Henreid both in classic Hollywood movies and as a director, notably for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" on Television. "A Woman's Devotion" is not a highlight on any of their resumes.

Ralph Meeker is a vet who has headaches, blackouts, and the alarming things that in classic cinema make him an easy target for a suspicious cop. Paul Henreid, the suspicious cop, is ready to toss the guy into a prison cell. Can A WOMAN'S DEVOTION, supplied by Janice Rule, keep Meeker out of a nasty prison in beautiful Acapulco? This is one of those films that gets called noir -- in this case because the plot, featuring a vet who have gone bad, seems to cry out for black and white photography, bleak cynicism, and gun play amongst the Venetian blinds. But it really does not belong in that category -- partly because the focus of the picture is really on a well acted cat and mouse game between Paul Henreid -- playing a bitter Mexican cop to perfection -- and Janice Rule, who is a devoted wife, but a smart one, determined to get her husband out of the mess that is slowly surrounding him. The other star, one rendered in Republic's Technicolor variant, is Acapulco, which is seedier than what one usually sees in the movies. The film starts slowly -- because Henreid (the director) is determined to show happiness between Rule and Meeker -- and he is also giving himself time to establish the true sour core of his character. The result is once the mystery elements finally get going, we actually feel for these characters, and that makes the (alas) inevitable end that more powerful. Yet another scarce film that needs a release, but does not have the obvious hook for it. And the next time TCM does a Paul Henreid retrospective, they need to find this one. His direction draws out the best in his actors (except for Meeker, who misplays his part in the later reels). His own acting seems inspired by being cast a bit against type.