Nicely shot, but tedious turkey of a film with obvious risible attempts to echo Casablanca: the north African setting, the cynical hero (who I spent most of it thinking was called Rick, but it turned out to be Rip), with an ambivalent relationship with the chief of police, dodgy villains in the Kasbah, beautiful love interest Pier Angeli, and night club scenes etc. Rip returns from war with an artificial leg, giving him a limp which improves as time goes by, to find a dead wife, and a range of suspects who might have killed her. There are a number of pointless characters, several unexplained attempts to kill Rip, or rough him up, an intergalactically daft script, and a plot so ponderous that you could leave the room for twenty minutes, more than once, and not miss anything. Some well known faces come in and out of the plot without adding any interest, so let's not list them here: it's all about Rip, a leading man so deeply dull that you hope that somebody will succeed in shooting him. The story covers about two days, after which Rip, having mourned for his late wife for about half an hour, can take off with his new love, and his restored leg. Absolute drivel. Rest in Peace Rip.
Review of Port Afrique
Port Afrique
(1956)
Husband finds new love, and a new leg, after tragic death of wife.
19 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers