Appointment in Honduras

Steve Corbett (Glen Ford) is given a mission to find a former Honduras president who was recently deposed in a result of a coup d'etat in order to give him money that will help him to come back to power. In order to do that he is made to join a group of prisoners who were being transported on a boat, force the captain to take them to the shore and set them free, taking as hostages an American couple (played by Ann Sheridan and Zachary Scott) and embark on a dangerous journey through Central American jungle in order to fulfill his mission whatever the cost.

Though the film has it's interesting moments, such as location shots of the jungle and it's inhabitants, the story is weak with uninteresting characters not managing to convince one to care for them. 5/10

There are eight passengers aboard the ship when it puts in at port in Nicaragua: Zachary Scott, his wife, Ann Sheridan, five men bound for prison, and Glenn Ford, carrying money for a Honduran revolution. He's denied entry, so Ford frees the prisoners, and they escape into the jungle, headed for Honduras, carrying the married couple with them as, well, plot points.

Most of the movie is about getting through the jungle and its deadly fauna. Ford plays his role close to his vest so it's impossible to tell whether he's a good guy, or a bad guy. Either way, he clearly lusts for Miss Sheridan, Scott lusts for the cash he's carrying, and the escaped prisoners want the money, a gold mine Mr. Scott knows the location of, and to get out of the country,

Director Jacques Tourneur clearly views this as a job for hire, getting over the plot points, having DP Joseph Biroc point the camera to point out the lush jungle in the Los Angeles Botanical Gardens, and stages, and so forth. Scott, playing one of his weak-but-greedy characters, offers a good performance. Ford seems disengaged, and the Central American criminals, including Jack Elam, ham it up.

When Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948, there was a massive shake-up. The new boss was unhappy with key personnel that had made deals he did not approve of...he quickly fired producer Dore Schary. (Schary moved over to MGM, which led to L. B. Mayer's ouster.) But the shake-ups were not only at the top.

Hughes was not enamored with some of the starlets on contract and sought to rid himself of them. For example, he wasn't particularly fond of Barbara Bel Geddes, who had recently triumphed under Schary's guidance with the nostalgic favorite I REMEMBER MAMA. The movie mogul quickly loaned her out with Robert Ryan to MGM for its Max Ophuls-directed noir CAUGHT (which ironically featured a main character modeled on Hughes himself).

But Bel Geddes wasn't the only actress Hughes had taken a disliking to when he gained control. His other castoff was proven A-list star Ann Sheridan, who had just finished a long association at Warners and was now freelancing. Sheridan's agent had negotiated a deal for her to star in her next picture at RKO. This deal was brokered by Schary, just as Hughes was taking over the studio.

Sheridan had many perks in her new RKO deal. She was to be paid $150,000 for a romantic drama called MY FORBIDDEN PAST, plus 10% of the profits. She also had approval over casting, the script, and other important items such as who would direct. Robert Young, who was under contract with RKO at this time, was originally chosen as her costar but due to a scheduling conflict he was forced to drop out. Sheridan gave Hughes a list of five acceptable male costars who might replace Young. One of the five was Robert Mitchum, who did the picture.

But Hughes had something else in mind. Not only would he replace Young with Mitchum, he would replace Sheridan with Ava Gardner. He felt Sheridan was not as sexy as Gardner and convinced MGM to lend Gardner to him.

As a result of the switch, Sheridan was now suddenly out of a job at RKO. Except, unlike Bel Geddes, she had a much more ironclad contract. She and her agent waited until MY FORBIDDEN PAST had completed principle photography with Gardner, then they sued Hughes and the studio for $300,000 for breach of contract-- which was double the original amount she would have been paid if Hughes had kept her in the film.

Meanwhile, Sheridan starred at Fox in the hit comedy I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE with Cary Grant. She followed it up with a sharp satire called STELLA, then went to Universal for a film with director Douglas Sirk. So her movie career was not harmed by feuding with Hughes.

Hughes and his high-powered attorneys fought Sheridan, but they did not succeed. The actress prevailed and was paid for not appearing in MY FORBIDDEN PAST (the Ava Gardner picture lost money at the box office so there was no percentage of the profits to award Sheridan). Then, for the other $150,000 sum, RKO was ordered to put Sheridan in a new picture. Two years later she finally did go to work at the studio in an action adventure called APPOINTMENT IN HONDURAS with Glenn Ford and Zachary Scott.

Howard Hughes learned the hard way. You do not mess with Ann Sheridan when she's holding all the cards.

Director Jacques Tourneur was not only excellent in the horror element: CAT PEOPLE, LEOPARD MEN, NIGHT OF THE DEMON; western: WICHITA, WAY OF A GAUCHO; crime thrillers: OUT OF THE PAST ; but also in adventures: FLAME AND THE ARROW, ANNE OF THE INDIES, and this one, despite the obvious settings without any locations, but a simple studio lot in Los Angeles. This is full of charm, tension, character depiction, supporting roles which are exquisite to watch. Ann Sheridan brings her delightful touch to this men's tale, and Zachary Scott is as convincing as ever in the villain role. An important film in Jacques Tourneur's filmography.

Jim Corbett (Glenn Ford) frees four prisoners to help him navigate the Honduran jungle. He's looking for a band of rebels he intends to help. To be successful and stay alive, Corbett and Co face a number of obstacles, including: pumas, piranhas, soldiers, insects, and each other.

I know it was a mistake to do so, but I was so hoping Appointment in Honduras would be as entertaining as the similarly named Affair in Trinidad - also with Glenn Ford. I know that film has its detractors, but I always find it so much fun. Unfortunately, the similarity in names is where the comparison of these films ends. Overall, I found this one an underwhelming, fairly dull trudge to get through. Scene after scene of Corbett hitting the jungle growth with a machete or yelling at the other members of his party got old pretty quick. It didn't take long for me to stop caring about which characters were killed and which survived. The final gun battle wasn't as entertaining as it should have been. The way it was filmed, it was difficult to determine character positioning in relation to each other. Very substandard directing and editing as far as I'm concerned. Finally on my list of complaints, there's Ann Sheridan. Annoyed doesn't begin to describe my feelings toward her and her character. I know she was meant to play the Rita Hayworth role (same red hair and all) opposite Glenn Ford that had been so successful before (see the previously mentioned Affair in Trinidad for example), but she's a poor imitation.

One interesting thing for me at least was the presence of a very young Jack Elam. He doesn't do much, but it was pretty cool all the same.

4/10