Tampico

Tampico (1944)

** (out of 4)

Standard spy yarn has Edward G. Robinson playing a skipper of an oil rig during WW2 when the German's are trying to sink all the rigs. He saves a beautiful woman (Lynn Bari) from the sea and marries her but when his ship gets hit by a torpedo his men think the new wife was a spy. This film only runs 75-minutes but there's not really enough story for a twenty-minute movie. Robinson is pretty good in his role as is Bari but the supporting cast, including Victor McLaglen, doesn't add much spice to the story. The direction is pretty uninspired throughout and some of the dialogue is quite laughable.

This is one of those little gems that makes discovering on a rainy Saturday afternoon a pleasant surprise. It is not a great movie in any sense of the word, but a very enjoyable one. Yeah, like some of the other reviewers, I wondered what in God's Green Earth it was that Kathy saw in Captain Manson (Edward G. Robinson), but short pudgy guys need love too and outside of Hollywood, romances like this very often happen. Also, Victor McLaglen played his role as the ship's First Mate so straight, not in his usual drunk loudmouth Irishman character, that I almost did not recognize him.

The plot was interesting (more fun than riveting), as the story goes from a sea adventure to a spy tale, with a little bit of romance thrown in. The perceived mismatch between the young attractive Kathy and the older Capt Manson only add to the mystery regarding her real motives.

Just a fun little movie to hunker down on the couch under a blanket, pass the time and eat some popcorn.

Robinson's career as a leading man was on the downslide at this point and he was jerkily moving into starring support roles like his turn in DOUBLE INDEMNITY when he made this one, a handsome Fox programmer with noir lighting in which his role is a bit of a retread, combining the lovesick dope of TIGER SHARK, the mature sea captain and some World War Two intrigue. He's got good players with him too, with Lynn Bari and Victor MacLaglen.... and when it came to playing a role cleanly and honestly in the movie theater, Robinson's only competition was Spencer Tracy. And if they have film footage of either of them reading the telephone book, it will be worth seeing. So this one is worth your time. Which you should have known when you saw his name on the cast list.

Oil tanker captain Edward G. Robinson picks up shipwreck survivors during WW2. Among them is pretty Lynn Bari. The middle-aged captain falls for her and the two are married, despite the objections of his friend and first mate, Victor McLaglen. Later, after his ship is sunk by a torpedo, his new bride is suspected of being a German agent. Eddie sets out to uncover the truth and hopefully clear her name.

Perhaps only in the fantasyland of movies can a woman as attractive as Lynn Bari be into a guy that looks like Edward G. Robinson (without him being rich, of course). I was able to keep my inner cynic in check on this part of the story. The rest of it is a little more far-fetched but I won't spoil all of it for you. Let's just say what Robinson does to investigate I've seen in older movies before and it always stretches credulity. Eddie's good and Lynn's not bad, either. Victor McLaglen is wasted in his blah part. It's a watchable WW2 flick. Robinson fans will like it more than most.

I know of only one other movie that was made about the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II. That was "Action in the North Atlantic" by Warner Brothers in 1943. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey and Alan Hale. That film was set in the North Atlantic and had considerable action. "Tampico" isn't on the same level, but it gives a peek at what the Merchant Marine was like around the world during WWII. And, it includes a look at fifth column activities during the war. Nazi operators existed in the U.S. and many other nations. Their primary purpose in the U.S. was to keep it out of the war – on the side of the Allies. It's secondary operations were disruption of industrial production, sabotage and espionage to aid in the sinking of Allied ships.

The plot is fairly simple and somewhat contrived for this film. Edward G. Robinson is very good as Capt. Bart Manson. Victor McLaglen is very good as his first mate. Lynn Bari is good as Kathy Hall. Her part in the film does seem quite contrived. Some reviewers couldn't place her being attracted to Robinson. And a couple questioned Robinson's age as a ship's captain. The script gives a good accounting of Kathy's situation. She had left the U.S. five years earlier and traveled and worked as a dancer in Europe. And, with the rise of the Nazis and invasion of France, she had been trying to return to the U.S. through Lisbon, Portugal. That was a familiar struggle for many civilians, including Americans, trying to get away from the Nazis.

As to Robinson's age, the Merchant Marine had many ship captains in their 40s and 50s. And, during WWII, the service was very happy to have all the experienced captains stay at their helms. Before the start of the war, the Merchant Marine had 55,000 experienced mariners. That number grew to 215,000 during the war – all trained by the Maritime Service.

During the war, about 4,300 Allied ships were sunk. More than 9,300 U.S. mariners lost their lives. In the peak year 1942, the Allies lost 33 ships per week. The U.S. Merchant Marine operated in most of the oceans and seas of the world, and lost ships in all those areas. The Atlantic Ocean had the most ships lost – more than 700. But more than 230 ships were sunk by German U-boats in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

So, "Tampico" gives a look at Merchant Marine operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Early in the film, Captain Manson lectures his men before they go on shore leave about maintaining security so that the enemy can't find out about their shipping plans and cargoes. Very few war films show these warnings to the troops, but it is something that regularly took place among all the services. One of the most familiar posters seen during WWII warned, "Loose lips sink ships." "Tampico" fits that warning to a tee.

This movie doesn't have the action of many other films at sea. And, it spends more time in port. But it gives us a rare look at the silent service during WWII that was so crucial to supplying the Allied forces and to their winning the war.