Lisboa

Ray Milland was not a great director, as this effort shows. This colour film shows much of Lisbon and the surrounding area in the mid-1950s, which is welcome. There are several excellent performances. Claude Rains is magnificent as usual as a devious and urbane crook, Francis (originally Franz) Lederer is superb as his henchman and assassin, underplaying and thereby increasing the menace of his character (which in the script cannot have amounted to much). Yvonne Furneaux is a charming ingenue who tries very hard indeed to be convincing about throwing herself into the arms of an aged Ray Milland and telling him she loves him. Maureen O'Hara flashes her usual Irish fire, but she also has to tell Milland she loves him, and two beautiful gals throwing themselves at Milland in competition is really too much to take, since he looks like he needs a month's rest in a sanatorium rather than a heady romance. Milland always had great 'watchability' and he still retains some in this film. This film has a very weak script and absolutely atrocious cinematography by Jack Marta, who seems only to use about two lights in his interiors. A friend who worked with Ray Milland once told me that Milland was the meanest man with money he had ever known, and he would always try to share taxis with poor actors and then pretend he had forgotten his money and make them pay. (That is why everyone tried to avoid sharing cabs with Milland.) Perhaps Milland, who co-produced this venture, was too mean to pay Marta to have proper lights! The interior shadows and lighting are simply unimaginably awful.There is an equally atrocious score by Nelson Riddle. Somebody should have taken a whip and beaten Milland back into his box. He had no business producing and directing. There is a fine authentic song performed by Anita Guerreiro in this film, who gives us a few moments of real music. Milland obviously loved Portugal, and we can be grateful for his enthusiasm in showing some of it to us as it was then. If only the film had come up to a higher standard, we would be able to say on our postcards: 'Having a wonderful viewing, wish you were here!'

I have seen more films than practically anyone. One thing I really appreciate is a picture that surprises me...one that avoids the usual formulas and cliches. Well, although "Lisbon" seems like a by-the-numbers movie, its final portion manages to offer quite a few surprises...and I really appreciate that.

The film, not surprisingly, is set in Lisbon, Portugal. It centers initially around two very different criminal smugglers....Aristides Mavros (Claude Rains), a man who has no scruples whatsoever, and Captain Robert Evans (Ray Milland), a rogue with few scruples...though how much you'll have to discover through the course of the movie.

Into this den of not niceness arrives a lady who is there to ransom back her rich elderly husband. Sylvia (Maureen O'Hara) is an odd one...and who she is and what her intentions are not clear until later in the movie...which I appreciate. Of course, the Captain is smitten with her....and another lady is smitten with him. How does all this work out? See the film!

An odd movie....not O'Hara's nor Milland's best. But still, it offers enough surprises that I felt pleased overall. Oh, and it was also directed by Milland as well.

Elegant is the only word to describe this wonderful example of 1950s film-making at its best. Art direction is usually one of those obscure technical credits nobody ever bothers about, but in this case the entire movie is a feast for the eyes thanks to clever art direction using subtle shades of blue and brown to reflect the beautiful natural locations in Portugal. Almost every frame is a painting in its own right and the movie is worth watching just for its sumptuous looks alone.

Against this delightful visual backdrop, a complex double/triple-cross crime story is allowed to unfold at a leisurely pace as the viewer is gradually let in on the intricacies of the plot. Characters and motives also develop with the story and by its conclusion little is what it first seemed. Claude Rains, Maureen O'Hara and Ray Milland (who was also director and associate producer) are each excellent in their roles. Claude Rains in particular as a raffishly handsome crime boss with impeccable breeding is both lovable and chilling. Ray Milland has all the women falling at his feet, and not without reason. Maureen O'Hara is alternately tough and romantic as we see her character gradually revealed.

Movie buffs might even see some tongue in cheek allusions to the plot of Casablanca, particularly in the final scene, as this cleverly crafted story unfolds. There's certainly something to please everyone. I'm a person who rarely enjoys movies made in the 1950s because of the stifling social values of the era, but for me Lisbon has been a revelation of the artistic heights which could be achieved in that era when the movie makers stopped trying to preach political and social values and just did what they were good at.

Ray Milland had quite an hand in this quite classy looking seaside drama. He ("Capt. Evans") finds himself intrigued by an offer of $10,000 from the debonaire but entirely unscrupulous "Mavros" (Claude Rains) if he will suspend his usual brandy smuggling operations and bring a wealthy and recently kidnapped American to safety in Portugal. The whole operation is being funded by "Sylvia" (Maureen O'Hara) the much younger wife of the captured industrialist, so of course there are temptations afoot to maybe ensure his money is suddenly available for re-distribution. "Evans" turns out to be a bit of a babe magnet here as he also manages to attract the attention of "Maria" (Yvonne Furneaux) who works for "Mavros" and who takes an immediate shine to her sailor boy - despite the obvious chagrin of henchman "Serafim" (Francis Lederer). Who's going to prevail in this battle of hearts, wits and double-crosses? The story itself here is quite solid and Rains cones across well as the duplicitous schemer but O'Hara was always better when her character was allowed to let her hair down. Here, she is a bit stifled by the rather limited scope for her character and the equally linear contribution from an unremarkable Milland. The thriller elements are all too readily subsumed into the menage-à-trois romance and even the elements of menace are just too undercooked. It's got a good look to it and Nelson Riddle works some magic on traditional Portuguese music, but the rest of this is all a bit so what? It's watchable to see a group of consummate professionals do their work, but the film itself is nothing at all memorable.

I consider Ray Milland was a much more influential director and actor than the afficiandos estimate. A good sound actor who could carry the lead particularly well and as this film and "A Man Alone" indicate he had the ability to create watchable,logical movies that had good camera work and never over egged the pudding.The Camera work in Lisbon is particularly good as are the sets which convey the aura of the time. The story line is clever without being to complex and an air of authenticity pervades the production which was done in an age where the backlot was normally everything.Splendid acting from Claude Rains as usual with Milland and the rest matching it perfectly. A good rainy day movie even now and worth my score of 8.