''Bahama Passage'' is a 1941 American romantic

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Edward H. Griffith Edward H. Griffith (August 23, 1888 – March 3, 1975) (also known as E H Griffith, Lieut. Edward H. Griffith, Edward Griffith, and E. H. Griffith) was an American film director, motion picture director, screenwriter, and producer. Biography ...

and starring

Madeleine Carroll Marie-Madeleine Bernadette O'Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and in America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress. Ca ...

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor, and Marine. A leading man for most of his career, he specialized in Westerns and film noir throughout the 1950s, in film ...

Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from qu ...

and Leo G. Carroll. The film was primarily shot on

Salt Cay, Turks Islands Salt Cay is the second largest of the Turks Islands, one of the two island groups forming of the British territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. Its area is . The size of the district, which also includes some unpopulated i ...

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Plot

When his father dies in an accident, Adrian Ainsworth is forced to get a replacement as head of the family salt company on an island in the Caribbean. His mentally unstable mother firmly believes that her husband was murdered by one of their Bahama workers. Soon a Mr. Delbridge and his daughter Carol arrives to the island to run the company. Adrian is not happy with this solution though, and is reluctant to give Mr. Delbridge complete control of the company affairs. The new boss is quickly unpopular with the rest of the work force, including Adrian's right-hand man Morales, who is hit by Delbridge when he fails to give him the keys to the house. Morales only wants to protect his friend Adrian's interests. The daughter Carol, a pretty and flirtatious socialite girl, shows a romantic interest in Adrian, unaware that he is in fact married. When she finds out, they become friends, and Adrian gets to know about the state of the company through Carol. Apparently the family business is heading towards bankruptcy. One day Adrian gets a message that his wife Mary is ill, and goes to Spanish Harbour where she lives alone. He is accompanied by Carol, and when they get to his home, Mary is occupied with another man. She wants to divorce him, tired of living alone on a deserted island. One night Mr. Delbridge has enough of the islanders when they celebrate a holiday with singing indigenous songs, so he fires his gun at them, which scares Mrs. Ainsworth so much her heart fails. She dies before Adrian is able to return from his estranged wife. Upon his arrival back to the house he learns that Mr. Delbridge has killed a young island boy with his firing. The islanders avenge their dead son by kidnapping Mr. Delbridge, determined to bring him to justice by taking him to the police. When Adrian and Carol are left alone at the house, they ultimately fall in love. Morales pays them a visit and tells them that Mr. Delbridge managed to flee from the islanders by jumping overboard on a boat, and is presumed drowned. Adrian wants to get Carol away from the island and all of the bad feelings that seem to be inspired by the place. His friend, Captain Risingwell, tells him that it isn't the place, but the absence of true love that destroyed the people living there. Adrian changes his mind and brings Carol back with him to the island to spend their future together.

Cast

as Carol Delbridge *

as Adrian Ainsworth *

as Mrs. Ainsworth * Leo G. Carroll as Delbridge * Mary Anderson as Mary Ainsworth *

Cecil Kellaway Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 – 28 February 1973) was a South African character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1948) and ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' ...

as Captain Jack Risingwell *

Leigh Whipper Leigh Rollin Whipper (October 29, 1876 – July 26, 1975) was an American actor on the stage and in motion pictures. He was the first African American to join the Actors' Equity Association, and one of the founders of the Negro Actors Guild of ...

as Morales *

Dorothy Dandridge Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress and singer. She was the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for '' Carmen Jones'' (1954). Dandridge had a ...

as Thalia

Critical reception

A review in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described it as an "uneventful, talky and boresome drama" noting that "Miss Carroll does her best to overcome the weak tale, but finds the task impossible".Pascoe p.127

References

Bibliography

* Pascoe, John. ''Madeleine Carroll: Actress and Humanitarian, from The 39 Steps to the Red Cross''. McFarland, 2020.

External links