Very Cool!!!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Lightweight leading man Cary Grant decided to try playing a serious role for a change in writer & director Richard Brooks' first directorial effort "Crisis" about a gifted surgeon who agrees to operate on a notorious South American dictator who suffers from a brain tumor. Nothing about "Crisis" is remotely like anything that Grant had done before in Hollywood. Humor is not used to relieve the tension or the drama in this straightforward medical yarn. Brooks adapted George Tabori's short story "The Doubters," and he pulls few punches realistic yarn. It should come as no surprise that Latin Americans didn't like approve of this controversial movie. Ultimately, Grant's stab of being serious amounted to a flop, despite the poster ads that proclaimed "Carefree Cary Grant on a gay vacation with his lovely bride walks right into Danger!" The arrogant dictator, Raoul Farrago (José Ferrer of "The Shrike"), insists that the good doctor operate even though several more qualified surgeons are available to treat him. As it turns out, none of those doctors want to save Farrago. You see, Dr. Eugene Norland Ferguson (Cary Grant of "Gunga Din") and his wife Helen (Paula Raymond of "The Duchess of Idaho") are on holiday from their ship when they find themselves arrested by Farrago's armed enforcer Colonel Adragon (Ramon Navarro of the silent "Ben-Hur") who doesn't take no for an answer. Meantime, a representative from an oil company, Sam Proctor (Leon Ames of "Lady in the Lake") advises the Fergusons that he go through with the dangerous operation. Ferguson doesn't want his wife around if anything goes wrong. She boards a train with an armed escort to leave the country. Earlier, Ferguson and his wife had dined out in a restaurant where the subverves hang their hats, the doctor meets the ring leader of the opposition, Roland Gonzales (Gilbert Roland of "Beneath the 12 Mile Reef") tries to convince Ferguson to botch the operation. Truthful to his oath as a doctor, Ferguson goes ahead with the operation. Farrago survives but ignores his physician's orders. The ending is appropriate to this Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer social consciousness drama and it should come as no surprise what happens to the dreaded Farrago. The ending has a touch of irony to it. "Crisis" lives up to its title, and Brooks never lets the tension slacken throughout this taut thriller. Reportedly, Grant threw himself into the role and approached genuine doctors who showed him a thing or two about the surgeon's profession.

I loved this movie because of the performance of Signe Hasso, who conveyed all she could, given her stereotypical lines. Farrago's part was a caricature of a Hispanic dictator. I wonder how many actually have such a sardonic, self-deprecating sense of humor. Grant was excellent, but demonstrated what a marvelous actor he is by delivering somewhat stilted, corny lines with aplomb and feeling. Paula Raymond's part gave her little to work with. The others were serviceable.But Miss Hasso was superb. I missed the opening credits, and had no idea who she was, but was immediately intrigued by her performance. I suppose she was patterned after Evita, but she came across as much more sympathetic than Eva ever could. When I came to IMDb to learn who played the part, I was stunned to learn it was a Scandinavian, rather than a Hispanic. She carried it off marvelously.

This is Richard Brooks' first directorial effort. Examining the work half a century after it was made, the film presents a director who knows how to get the most from his actors through the written word and the way it is spoken. Three actors sparkle: Cary Grant, Jose Ferrer, and Signe Hasso.Compare Cary Grant's acting in the Hitchcock vehicles and in this. Grant presents a maturity in his speech patterns that do not show up under Hitchcock's direction. I think much of the quality of the performances is probably due to the director who took his first film seriously--probably a lot more than he did in his later career. All in all, this is a curious film--quite unusual in several ways compared to the average Hollywood products in the Fifties. Is it only a question of humanism winning over all evils? Or more?

Even someone who's been keeping track of old movies for many years can be forgiven if this one slipped under the radar. Surgeon Cary Grant and his wife are vacationing in a South- or Central-American paradise when they are abducted by government forces. Seems the country's dictator (Jose Ferrar) has a brain tumor but is afraid to leave the country due to revolutionary activity. Grant is pressured into performing the operation. Only problem is, the guerrillas have captured his wife, threatening to kill her if Ferrar survives the operation. But the letter informing him of this never reaches Grant.... Supporting cast includes Leon Ames, Ramon Navarro (Ben-Hur of the silent era) and Signe Hasso as Ferrar's wife, an Evita Peron clone. This is a tense and often intelligent drama (and slightly out of Grant's usual debonair range) that doesn't merit the obscurity it seems to be buried in.