Forbidden Cargo (1954)

Directed by Harold French; produced by Sydney Box

A complaint of naval personnel disturbing nests in a bird sanctuary leads HM Customs and Excise investigator Michael Kenyon (Nigel Patrick) to clear up a simple case of liquor-smuggling. But one of the criminals (Eric Pohlmann) has information that could lead to something bigger: a plot to bring into England an item much deadlier than a few cases of French wines and spirits.

Forbidden Cargo is another of those well-made movies that the British specialised in during the 1940s and ‘50s: realistic crime or war dramas the accurate details of which give them almost a documentary-like style. This sort of film has always appealed to me, and certainly much of Forbidden Cargo did, as well.

Patrick makes an engaging hero, sharing some of James Bonds’s traits without sacrificing realism: good-looking, social, intelligent and with a reputation for the ladies. The viewer can appreciate his expertise in his field but also realises that he doesn’t, indeed can’t, know everything.

His boss is played by the popular actor Jack Warner, who always lends an air of no-nonsense authority to such roles. Elizabeth Sellars, as Rita Compton, the woman who may know nothing of the smuggling, or may know everything, and Terence Morgan, as her too-suave brother, are good additions to the cast. Something should be said of Theodore Bikel, as well. This astonishingly versatile actor (who, I believe, originated the role of Captain von Trapp when The Sound of Music appeared on stage), singer, musician, polyglot, and social-activist is often featured in smaller roles but, as in Forbidden Cargo, comes close to usurping the greater part of the audience’s attention.

The cast, and its performances, cannot be faulted. They make the characters three-dimensional. The settings move from East Anglia to Cannes and back to the riverside of London, variety which helps the story.

And it’s that story which primarily lowers the value of Forbidden Cargo. It is not a poor tale, but neither is it involving. There is no real mystery as to who is behind the smuggling, and the events that unfold are not particularly intriguing. I am not someone who needs every crime story to concern itself with nuclear bombs threatening major cities or deadly plagues about to be unleashed. A ‘small’ felony can be as exciting as any globe-trotting narrative of terrorism and assassination. But it still must be interesting. Forbidden Cargo’s story just qualifies.

The script is better than the story, especially in the relationship of Kenyon and Rita (in which the pair are attracted to each other but don’t fall in love over a couple of dates, as they might in other films), and the direction gives the climax an exciting car-chase through London Dockland’s narrow lanes.

Consequently, I can recommend Forbidden Cargo but cannot place it high in any list of crime dramas; undemanding, likeable but largely unmemorable.