Best movie of this year hands down!

Wonderful character development!

What a waste of my time!!!

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

One can't help but go native when encountering Tondelayo (Hedy Lamarr), a local beauty with a great dental plan In White Cargo. With western interests there to exploit the people and capitalize on their natural resources Tondelayo does a decent job of leveling the playing field with the white invaders with a brand of irresistible guerrilla sensuality that throws the boys into disarray. Langford (Richard Carlson) is a newly arrived employee of an African rubber plantation run by the British. Wirtzel (Walter Pidgeon) who is in charge doubts if he has the right stuff to put up with the oppressive heat and supervising workers who don't speak English. Langford is soon frustrated and overwhelmed but finds respite in island beauty Tondelayo. Wirtzel who has fallen victim to her allure in the past warns Langford about her and the already abrasive relationship becomes even more strained. Gold digger Tondelayo meanwhile attempts to soak Langford for everything he has before Wirtzel puts an end to it. There is more than a whiff of white supremacy in White Cargo as the savage and immoral Tondelayo without remorse plunders Carlson and tries to pit him against Wirtzel. It's all very nice to dally with the natives away from home states Frank Morgan's doctor but there is no room for miscegenation in the civilized white world. It's all very nice for them to exploit the land and people but the locals better know their place. Lamarr's Jolson look is jarring with a gleaming Ipana smile as director Richard Thorpe keeps his camera trained in close-up of her. Hedy is stilted and her performance dated but with her beauty speaking for her she is a powerful presence to contend with. Pidgeon, Carlson, Morgan and Reg Owen lend able support but the arch storyline is creaky even for 42 and Lamarr as jungle girl remains a bit of a stretch in the looks department but her beauty and tenacity make it entertaining enough and given the time (WW ll) must have been a welcome sight to overseas GIs, though my guess is they took little heed to the cautionary addendum about the dangers of fraternizing with locals message.

You have expect to hear Hedy Lamarr screech, "Gif me da Cobra Jewel!" in her performance as the supposedly half-caste Tondelayo, an exotic but obviously insane beauty that destroys every man she touches. Going on a rampage if bored, not getting the type of attention she thinks that she deserves, or just not clad in enough jewelry, Tondelayo is the type of female that should be abandoned on a deserted island far away from any man. When rubber plantation owner Walter Pidgeon looses interest in her, she sets her sights on newcomer Richard Carlson who is no match for her spider woman wiles. They marry against Pidgeon's harsh advice, but instantly bored, she sets up a jealous fight between Carlson and Pidgeon which pleases her needy quest for being the focus of every man's desires.All that is needed is a quick shot saying her famous line, "I am Tondelayo", and the camera cuts out to let her and Carlson move onto a seduction. They say that a man chases a girl until she catches him, but in this case, Carlson is indeed going to catch something, and it isn't the type of woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. Almost an update of the old Theda Bara "A Fool There Was" plot ("Kiss Me My Fool!"), this just adds sandy beaches and mosquito netting to the mix. Frank Morgan is the drunken doctor, both comical and pathetic, while Reginald Owen has some amusingly droll bits.It is the campiness that saves this from being a bore. Lamarr, in dark makeup surrounded by little light, only slightly melts her icy interior as long as she is out to get what she wants from the men around her. The result are melodramatics that probably upset the producers over at Universal who were preparing similar vehicles for Maria Montez, and made the producers of Dorothy Lamour's sarong films over at Paramount laugh hysterically. It wouldn't take a child to see what this evil creature known as Tondelayo was up to, so when the payoff comes, it is an absolute hoot. The final reminded me of the consequences for villainy as seen for Bela Logosi in 1935's "The Raven" and Judith Anderson in 1940's "Rebecca". Walter Pidgeon wisely returned to the more sobering partnership with Greer Garson after this, while the bland Carlson drifted along as far as he could on the silver screen, while Lamarr had to wait until the end of the decade to play another temptress, Biblical vixen Delilah.

Hollywood used to turn out some great bad movies, and "White Cargo" is one of the greatest and baddest. People who complain that it's unrealistic are missing the boat. Except for the jungle heat, the isolation of the white guys, and location shots of what looks like a rubber plantation, this movie doesn't even pretend to be real. It's pulp fiction of the old school. You watch it to forget your troubles, and if you're like me (a guy), Hedy Lamar will make 'em vanish like bubbles. Because it combines shameless sensationalism and with solid melodramatic performances (especially from Lamar, Pidgeon, and Wizard-of-Oz Frank Morgan), even my wife liked it.OK, Hollywood and America were a lot more racist in 1942 than now. We get it. But this movie isn't about race, imperialism, natural resources, or any of those other trendy topics, it's about the sensual power of Tondelayo.Goofy makeup and all, it would have been tough to find any actress of any ethnicity who could top Hedy Lamar in the leading role. Tondie, an incarnation of Eve like you wouldn't believe, unites all misogynist female stereotypes into one purring package: she's mysterious, wild, stupid, primitive, insincere, manipulative, beautiful, evil, greedy, relentless, sadomasochistic, homicidal, and did I mention sexy? That all adds up to "irresitible" in the logic of this movie. The fact that she's the only woman within a hundred miles is certainly part of her charm. And yes, as she drives Richard Carlson batty, Hedy Lamar really communicates all those things with her movements, her delivery, and, toughest to do, her glances. Her eyes alone reveal her mind switching from evil to stupid to greedy in rapid succession."White Cargo" is a demented fantasy sequel to Conrad's great story "Heart of Darkness," or an academic poindexter could argue that it is. But ignore that. Blatant junk movies today are pretentious, gory, and tedious. But not "White Cargo." It isn't as complicated or ingenious as "Gilda," but it comes close enough on the Meter of Marvelous Trash. Great fun if you love the ridiculous!

I'm not sure where this film was supposedly set, although they mention Africa, but it looks like the Solomons or perhaps Catalina. As outrageous as the film appears, its filled with a lot of heavy cynical rhetoric, along with all sorts of imperialistic undertones. And, of course, Hedy in a bikini-sarong throughout. Tandalayo, tantalayo. And then there's inter-racial romance, well, if not, at least, and perhaps, even more important for those racist times,marriage. Considering that almost all films from that time, or since, were maudlin claptrap, this one has some bite at times, and some strong performances. The bottom line is that any film that has this much of Hedy can't be all bad.