Daniel Gelin plays a soldier who is acquitted after committing a crime of passion. Relocating to Lisbon, and still feeling remorse over his impulsive killing of his faithless wife, Gelin manages to find love in the form of gorgeous widow Francoise Arnoul. Alas, it turns out that Arnoul has a sordid past of her own, leaving our hero sadder but wiser.
Cinematography
Lisbon locations shot like a fever dream of escape.
Acting
Arnoul's performance—innocent or calculating? The film won't say.
Score
Fado legend Amália Rodrigues appears, voice like liquid sorrow.
Director
Henri Verneuil
Daniel Gélin
Pierre Roubier
Françoise Arnoul
Kathleen Dinver
Trevor Howard
Inspector Lewis
Marcel Dalio
Porfirio
Amália Rodrigues
Amália
Betty Stockfeld
Maisie
Jacques Moulières
Manuel aka 'Moustique'
Georges Chamarat
Lawyer
Ginette Leclerc
Maria
Jacques Moulières
Manuel
Reggie Nalder
Maître d'hôtel (uncredited)
Jean Ozenne
Lord Dicson (uncredited)
Albert Préjean
(uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Fado singer Amália Rodrigues was already Portugal's biggest star; her cameo was massive box-office bait for European audiences.
Verneuil shot the Lisbon scenes undercover—Portugal's fascist government only approved the script because it showed the city as romantic, not political.
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