Pre-Ironside has white-haired Raymond Burr in a wheelchair as Mallabee, a sugar cane tycoon living in Havana. He arrives home from the states to be greeted by his stunning young wife Lorna (Sara Shane) who doesn't seem particularly happy to see him.
Mallabee insists on going to a particular club for dinner though she is reluctant. One of the club musicians is Nick (John Cassavetes) whom Mallabee invites to his table after hearing him play piano.
Well, if you don't want someone to know you are involved in a clandestine affair with a man's wife, this awkward meeting with subtext flying all over the place just isn't the way to do it. Nick refuses an invitation to come to a fiesta on Mallabee's plantation and doesn't answer questions about himself.
Once back home, we learn that Mallabee will give Lorna a divorce but no money, so she can't leave him.
Nick does show up for the fiesta and, realizing Mallabee is in a wheelchair wants to break it off with the unhappy Lorna. She gives Nick the excuse that she's responsible for the accident. We never find out what happened.
Of course Mallabee knows all about the affair and has had a detective following them, with film to prove it.
The big problem with this film for me was the performance of Shane. The character is manipulative and takes advantage of the affection one of the plantation workers has for her, and she's also not completely honest with Nick. She does not give this role enough depth, making her less central to the story and thus the ending.
Filmed entirely in Cuba.
