Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 12-December-10
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Golden Salamander (1950)

When looking at old photos I occasionally spot faces that draw me into the picture, that seem to be grinning/peeping/squinting out at me so that I gain entrance to another place and time. I love those moments of finding myself in an 1860s logging camp or great-grandma's lace-filled parlor, and I appreciate the faces that brought me there. English actor Trevor Howard has one of those faces. His accessibility helps bring movies to life. Whether playing a no-nonsense major in The Third Man or a doctor blindsided by love in Brief Encounter, Howard suggests an average guy with something extra that might delight you if you're paying attention. Neither gorgeous nor homely, glamorous nor outlandish, he's an unflashy gem whose luster hasn't faded with time.

The British picture Golden Salamander is vintage Howard and a solid romantic thriller. The protagonist, David Redfern, is a museum archaeologist who travels to Tunisia to collect a trove of Etruscan artifacts. (Filmed on location, many scenes inspire wanderlust.) Upon his arrival in a seaside town he accidentally stumbles upon a smuggling operation. He decides not to involve himself in other people's business, but then two things happen to change his mind. First, he meets the soft-spoken French woman who manages his hotel. (She is played by Anouk, aka Anouk Aimée, who frequently crops up in crossword puzzles.) Her beloved brother (Jacques Sernas) happens to be one of the smugglers, and since Redfern takes a shine to her and can see they are both struggling kids, he wants to do something to help them. Second, while cataloguing and packing the artifacts he finds a statue of a salamander bearing the inscription "Not by ignoring evil does one overcome it, but by going to meet it." He takes this as a sign.

Redfern is no sissy or slouch, but he sinks in over his head when he begins to interfere with local affairs. He doesn't realize that the wealthy businessman who has been holding the artifacts (Walter Rilla) runs all the deals in town, including the smuggling, and owns all the townspeople, from his goonish henchman Rankl (Herbert Lom) to the one policeman. Redfern's attempts to expose the growing list of crimes to which he is a witness prove futile. He gets the girl, but it doesn't look like he will live long enough for that to matter.

The Mediterranean mess boils down to a boar hunt, an act of compassion, and good old English pluck. (Also some timely goats.) Full enjoyment of the suspense is enabled by Howard's seemingly effortless depiction of an everyday hero. If the movie or book which inspired it had come out before the war, I'd say that its underlying purpose was to urge countries to stand up to the Nazis ("going to meet evil"). As it is, Golden Salamander feels complete without any motives beyond entertainment.

Copyright © 2010 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.