A sailor takes a job on a wealthy couple's yacht and finds himself caught in a web of adultery, blackmail, and murder.
Orson Welles had already revolutionized American theatre and radio before making his feature film debut at 24 years old with Citizen Kane, widely regarded as the greatest of all time. His subsequent battles with studio executives over future efforts eventually pushed him abroad to direct films in Europe.
While working on a stage musical adaptation of Jules Verne's Around The World In 80 Days, Welles ran out of money and made a quick deal with Columbia Pictures studio head Harry Cohn, to write, direct, and star in a picture, naming a book he saw a girl reading as the source material.
Welles was married to one of world's most popular stars in Rita Hayworth, and while their relationship was troubled at the time of their only cinematic collaboration, the actress was at the height of her fame, having already danced opposite Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, and starred in the hit film noir Gilda. In a shocking move, Welles had his wife's long red hair cut short and dyed bleach-blonde, which infuriated Cohn.
The studio boss got his revenge by drastically cutting Welles' initial edit of the film, and ordering reshoots on various scenes. An elaborate funhouse scene that the director spent months designing and constructing was whittled down to only several minutes. Afraid that Hayworth's new look would alienate fans, Cohn held the release of the film back a year.
Departing from standard studio practice, much of the film was shot on location, including stops in Acapulco, Sausalito, and San Francisco's Chinatown. The yacht featured in the film was owned by fellow star and notorious partier Errol Flynn, who also assisted in camerawork and has a background cameo.
The film was under-promoted and quickly faded from theatres in the United States, though overseas critics were much more enthusiastic. Modern film scholars now regard it as one of Welles' great works, despite the studio interference.
Running time is approx. 90 minutes.
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