Review for Golden Salamander

I felt like I should have seen, or at least heard of 'The Golden Salamander'. It's a seemingly classic film noir with a sterling cast headed up by Trevor Howard, playing the debonair traveller David Redfern.


The film starts with great promise with Redfern arriving at a non-disclosed location in the middle of torrential storm, and in the dark, giving Director Ronald Neame a great excuse to dramtically light up parts of the action (with lightning flashes) whilst leaving much in the semi-dark, creating a tense atmosphere from the get-go. Finding an abandoned truck at the base of a landslide, he discovers that it is full of guns and he helps himself to one. Hiding in the shadows he witnesses the arrival of two men who have come to salvage the goods.


We then cut to our hero arriving, absolutely drenched, at an empty eatery where just a lone piano player (Wilfred Hyde-White? Surely not!) is tinkling the ivories. And then we hear his tale. He is, in fact, an archaeologist (not a spy, detective or gangster despite the red herring) and he has come to the remote Tunisian town to sort through a number of artefacts which have recently been rescued.


He asks for a room for a week or and, would you believe it, the girl serving, Anna (Anouk Aimee) is a real cutie who is attached to no one other than her gun-running brother.

So now we have at least three plots - the gun running (and the brother's involvement), the archaeology (and the valuable 'Golden Salamander' of the title) and, of course, a wonderful blossoming romance.


Howard does his thing quite marvelously (that 'wooden' stiff upper lip-thing he does in 'Brief Encounter') and really lucks out with the dame who looks a good twenty years his junior.


Herbert Lom plays a suitably greasy villain, constantly licking his lips and squinting his eyes, and we even get a comic turn or two from the supporting lawman, played by the fantastic Eugene Deckers who I thoroughly enjoyed just a couple of weeks ago as the hangman in the HD re-mastering of 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'.

This little known film is undoubtedly little known because, despite being a reasonably entertaining piece, it is in no way remarkable or 'classic'. The plot becomes a little convoluted and, ultimately un-satisfying. There is an incident in the film which, whilst it cranks up the melodrama, merely leaves you wondering if the inclusion of such a tragedy was really necessary - and the swiftness of the forgiveness almost laughable.


Despite these flaws, I'm pleased to have seen it. It's always good to see examples of British Cinema from the lost post-war to early fifties period - there just aren't that many about.


The print is passable enough in terms of picture and sound quality.

Not a classic - but a welcome release.