May 7, 2024
Deported (1950)
"Signor Smith, do all of you Americans treat women so, uh... so directly?"
"I wouldn't know. Maybe."
"But why? Have you so little time to spare?"
#deported#1950#film noir#american cinema#robert buckner#lionel shapiro#robert siodmak#jeff chandler#märta torén#claude dauphin#marina berti#richard rober#silvio minciotti#carlo rizzo#mimi aguglia#adriano ambrogi#michael tor#erminio spalla#dino nardi#guido celano#walter scharf#Indicator included this in their first Universal Noir box set but truthfully this barely qualifies as film noir; actually after a typically#hardboiled opening full of sharp dialogue and fistfights‚ this settles into something that's spiritually much closer to a romantic comedy#as Chandler's fish out of water (a low level mobster deported from the US back to the Italian village he hasn't seen since he was a small#child) falls for a local widow and must learn to temper his coarser instincts to find his inner kindness to win her heart. it's not by any#means an impressive piece of filmmaking or a highly original idea or even a very good script. what it IS is weirdly very very sweet: I got#truly invested in Chandler and Torén's burgeoning relationship‚ was rooting for them to work it out and for him to leave his shady past#behind. there is a little more crime film to the story (Jeff has to work out how to get his ill gotten gains into the country without#drawing unwanted attention) but for me that very much took a backseat to the real story of awkward lovers attempting to break down their#self imposed walls of security and make an honest open go of it together. very cute! i liked it!
