A Lady Without Passport

The richness and excitement of pre-Castro Cuba is brought vividly to life in Joseph H. Lewis’ A Lady Without Passport, the story of U.S. immigration agent Peter Karczag (John Hodiak) who goes undercover to bust a black market enterprise that smuggles illegal aliens and refugees into the United States. Hedy Lamarr plays Marianne Lorress, a beautiful concentration camp refugee for whom Karczag falls so hard that he’s willing to quit his government job to run away with her (“This girl could sell me cigarettes, and I don’t smoke”). Led by the refined but creepy Palinov (George Macready), the smugglers soon discover that Karczag is law enforcement, which forces the agent to run for his life, ending up in a swampland where he must grapple with a poisonous snake. Lewis and cinematographer Vogel manage the camera deftly and imaginatively, shooting from behind furniture and through railings, slow zooming in and out to heighten tension. Criticized by some for lackluster writing and lead performances (admittedly, it’s not Hedy’s greatest role), the film features plenty of action and a handful of outstanding scenes: in fact, it boasts one of noir’s greatest gun struggles when Karczag and Palinov, locked in a panting, homoerotic embrace of death, fight for control of a gun until it fires, the victim unknown to the viewer for an extended, dramatic moment.