I've always fond of Ray Milland, he had a capability to fulfill his characters with lots of charisma sporting a macho attitude, but maintaining his smooth touch of class act and charming the screen in a debonair way few others could do. He reminds me of a mix between Alan Ladd, John Wayne and Roger Moore."Lisbon" was his second directed film, which he also produced and acted as the leading star, filmed entirely in the beautiful sunny Portugal in the days of the old regime, back in the mid 50's.Milland plays the role of Captain Robert John Evans, a good-hearted north american smuggler and owner of a fast boat called "Orca", that established his operations in Lisbon smuggling expensive perfumes from North Africa. When a cynical Greek gangster, Aristides Mavros (Claude Rains) offers him a large sum of money to help the millionaire husband of Sylvia Merrill (Maureen O'Hara), held captive in communist China, to evade, Evans is brought to a web of espionage, intrigue and to a femme that may be... fatale !!Directed with panache by Milland and colorfully photographed by cameraman Jack A. Marta (shot in Trucolor and Naturama), "Lisbon", like the title may suggest, is the real star of this film, one of the last good ones produced by Republic Pictures (in association with the portuguese Tobis Studios where the interiors were shot).It's impossible to not be amazed of the beautiful scenery and locations, captured with inspired esthetics by the filmmakers, of "Lisboa Antiga" (Ancient Lisbon), which is also the title of the Fado song that so well represented the heart and soul of the Portuguese people in a time when heritage and patriotism were valued, with Fado singer Anita Guerreiro offering a haunting rendition of it in the scene at the restaurant in Alfama, one of the oldest districts of Lisbon, where Milland and O'Hara's characters first met.Like a tourist guide, but filmed with passion for the city and its surrounding municipalities, Milland shows the world some of the principal Lisbon's secular monuments such as Castelo de São Jorge (Saint George's Castle); Torre de Belém (Tower of Saint Vincent) and Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Hieronymites Monastery) and also the Rio Tejo (Tagus River), the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula.Milland also used the beautiful and mystical town of Sintra, today World Heritage Site, to shoot a few scenes showing the Seteais Palace, today a 5 stars Hotel, which overlooks the Pena National Palace, a Romanticist castle and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.Milland and Maureen O'Hara look genuine fascinated with the surroundings and the local folks and that's visible on camera, they even break characters in the scene with the fruits' vendor.Well, the magnitude of scenery apart and concentrating now on the (side) plot, "Lisbon" is, obviously, reminiscent of the Humphrey Bogart's classics such as "Casablanca" ('42) or "To Have and Have Not" ('44), but more vague & derivative with an upbeat feeling and less intricated in its plot & not so maudlin melodrama, elevated by the optimistic view of the luminous capital of Portugal.All the main cast performs well with Milland (even that if he started showing some signs of aging around that time), joyfully commanding the screen as the desirable leading star in his pet project; Maureen O'Hara, playing the villain for the first time and having a blast doing it and the great Claude Rains (Captain Louis Renault from "Casablanca") stealing all his scenes with the malevolence and cynicism that his character required (and having the best quotable lines in the whole film).Yvonne Furneaux as the naive "secretary"; Francis Lederer as the jealous henchman and Edward Chapman as the arrogant butler, all Rains' employees, offer good supporting turns completing the main cast.In short, "Lisbon" is an enjoyable adventure / film noir / crime film that don't take itself too seriously, to watch with a nostalgic feeling to it, evoking a wonderful Era for filmmaking and presenting a splendorous view of Lisbon, my own hometown, and Sintra, the town where i live for more than 40 years and rewatching this Ray Milland film, produced 20 years before i was even born, reminds me that unfortunately, things didn't changed for the better...

This obscure adventure romance from Republic may be thin on story but is, at least, distinguished by its lovely Technicolor photography shot on location in the title city and the pedigree of its Hollywood veteran cast, Ray Milland (who also directed), Maureen O'Hara and Claude Rains. The film is further blessed with a light, engaging Nelson Riddle song, "Lisbon Antigua," which plays throughout the proceedings. The Riddle song was a radio hit at the time, and is still pretty easily recognized.The story involves Milland as a smooth operating smuggler (his operations are always kept vague) hired by suave well bred scoundrel Rains to pick up a "package" from an American just arrived in the city (O'Hara) which will involve her kidnapped wealthy husband. The story is neither here nor there, really. The combination of visual pleasures, Riddle's musical score and a capable cast of veterans may be enough for some viewers to want to spend an hour and a half of their time with this fairly inconsequential enterprise.Rains is always fun to watch with his velvet voice, as a suave sophisticate who is also moral corruption incarnate. He seems to be almost playing his part in his sleep this go round but a Claude Rains asleep is still a great deal more entertaining than many other actors awake.At one point in the film Rains delicately makes reference to O'Hara of how lovely she looks and how even more lovely she would look should something unforeseen "happen" to her millionaire husband, with he, Rains, receiving a small portion of her inherited good fortune. O'Hara is shocked and outraged by the suggestion, calling him a monster. Rains, realizing his faux pas, quickly regroups, saying that "in my own clumsy fashion" he was merely attempting to pay her a small compliment for not yielding to an idea to which a less scrupulous woman might succumb.As Rains hints at the implications of a murder he could arrange, a small smile constantly dances across his lips. His expression could almost be that of a wine connoisseur discussing a rare vintage very much to his liking. It's a small, almost throwaway moment in the film, but it's a pleasure to watch the effortless aplomb that Rains brings to the scene.

Great actors, great scenery, great filming - but oh, so dreary - this is one for the insomniacs amongst us. I never did get to see the end of the movie, about half way had me in the land of nod without any desire to find out what happened, that is if indeed, anything at all happened.Claude Rains looked glassy eyed and appeared that he was wishing he was elsewhere. The whole thing would have been better off as a travelogue with the actors posing for the different scenes.This movie is slow ........ Torturously slow! Those having a yen to watch paint dry will find that this fits well with their desire.1/10 - and that's for the scenery.

Elegant is the only word to describe this wonderful example of 1950s film-making at its best. Art direction is usually one of those obscure technical credits nobody ever bothers about, but in this case the entire movie is a feast for the eyes thanks to clever art direction using subtle shades of blue and brown to reflect the beautiful natural locations in Portugal. Almost every frame is a painting in its own right and the movie is worth watching just for its sumptuous looks alone.Against this delightful visual backdrop, a complex double/triple-cross crime story is allowed to unfold at a leisurely pace as the viewer is gradually let in on the intricacies of the plot. Characters and motives also develop with the story and by its conclusion little is what it first seemed. Claude Rains, Maureen O'Hara and Ray Milland (who was also director and associate producer) are each excellent in their roles. Claude Rains in particular as a raffishly handsome crime boss with impeccable breeding is both lovable and chilling. Ray Milland has all the women falling at his feet, and not without reason. Maureen O'Hara is alternately tough and romantic as we see her character gradually revealed.Movie buffs might even see some tongue in cheek allusions to the plot of Casablanca, particularly in the final scene, as this cleverly crafted story unfolds. There's certainly something to please everyone. I'm a person who rarely enjoys movies made in the 1950s because of the stifling social values of the era, but for me Lisbon has been a revelation of the artistic heights which could be achieved in that era when the movie makers stopped trying to preach political and social values and just did what they were good at.