The Bribe *** (1949, Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, John Hodiak) – Classic Movie Review 12,436

‘Five Great Stars in a Daring Drama of Love and Adventure!’ Sounds great, but the 1949 film noir thriller The Bribe did poorly at the box office, resulting in a loss of $322,000 for MGM.

Director Robert Z Leonard’s 1949 MGM American black and white romantic melodrama film noir The Bribe stars Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, and John Hodiak. It is written by Marguerite Roberts, based on a 1947 short story by Frederick Nebel that appeared in Hearst’s-International Cosmopolitan.

Robert Taylor plays the tough American federal agent Rigby, who dallies with alluring songstress and suspect’s wife Elizabeth Hintten (Ava Gardner), while on the trail of bad guys in the Caribbean in an investigation into the smuggling of war-surplus aircraft.

Tracing the stolen aircraft engines on the Central American island of Carlotta, Rigby meets the chief suspect ‘Tug’ Hintten (John Hodiak) and his sultry café singer wife Elizabeth. He is being closely watched by J J Bealer (Charles Laughton), who offers him a bribe to leave Carlotta. But, naturally, Rigby and Elizabeth are attracted. Carwood (Vincent Price) is the brains of the outfit.

The chain smoking Rigby tells most of the story in typical noir flashbacks.

A stiff, older-looking Taylor (going through a career wobble after the war) doesn’t handle the romance too well and seems unhappy with his tough guy persona. But there is a polished MGM production and a lot of interest in the rest of the cast. Ava Gardner is everyone’s idea of the perfect femme fatale, while Laughton and Price reliably liven it up in lusty portrayals of villainy, breathing life into a musty museum piece.

Also in the cast are Samuel S Hinds, John Hoyt, Tito Renaldo, and Martin Garralaga.

The Bribe is directed by Robert Z Leonard, runs 98 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Marguerite Roberts, based on a story by Frederick Nebel, is shot in black and white by Joseph Ruttenberg, is produced by Pandro S Berman, and is scored by Miklos Rozsa.

The cast are Robert Taylor as Rigby, Ava Gardner as Elizabeth Hintten, Charles Laughton as J J Bealer, Vincent Price as Carwood, John Hodiak as Tugwell ‘Tug’ Hintten, Samuel S Hinds as Dr Warren, John Hoyt as Gibbs, Tito Renaldo as Emilio Gomez, and Martin Garralaga as Pablo Gomez.

Scenes and characters from The Bribe are edited into Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982), in which Steve Martin’s character is named Rigby and is searching for friends and enemies of Carlotta.

The budget was $1,984,000, but it earned only $2,510,000 at the box office, resulting in that $322,000 loss.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,436

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