I saw this on TCM and regretted not recording it because it was such a good movie. It is not great theater, but it is totally enjoyable, and the home movie quality of the backgrounds adds to the fun. It begins with a passionate Kay Kerrigan (Bennett) shooting the heartless man whose indifference drove Kerrigan's beloved sister to suicide. Pursued by the police, Kerrigan flees the country. The police send Sam Wye (Frederic March) a private detective who spends more time chasing women than bad guys to catch Kerrigan. Wye's secretary (Ann Southern), and a moronic policeman (Ralph Bellamy) join in the chase. Dorothy Parker was one of the writers and there are plenty of fun exchanges between the principals that are typical of the witty Ms. Parker. There are twists and turns to the plot, and the scenery is great (the technical quality is not great). The movie has not been released by whoever produced it (Wanger, the long time real life Mr. Bennett's estate?), but it is not copyrighted and I finally found a non-professionally made CD on ebay. Fun, good, late 1930's movie. Southern and Bellamy are hysterical.

This delightfully nutty movie was not well received in its day – and still has its detractors who take it all, both story and technique, far too seriously. In fact, Trade Winds takes some getting used to. The more you see it, the more it improves. You realize that the plot is supposed to be corny, even banal. It's not meant to be taken seriously. It's simply part of the overall zany fun.I'll admit that Rudolph Maté's attractively polished studio material doesn't tone in too well with Garnett and Shackelford's 16mm footage, but who cares? We soon fall in love with the dotty script and the tongue-in-cheek players: Ralph Bellamy, laughably overbearing and wonderfully funny as the dopiest of all flatfeet; Sothern, deliciously worldly-wise; Joan Bennett deftly acerbic; and March at his most charmingly roguish, playing the ladykiller with a delightfully over-rehearsed diffidence ("Business after pleasure!"), and hilariously throwing away such barbed lines as "I wonder what dope forgot to give her the note?"Topped with a deftly ingenious music score, Trade Winds is a movie buff's delight.P.S. Garnett and Shackleford shot the 16mm travelogue material on a yacht trip around the world in 1937. They had enough left over for another movie, but box office results for this one were not encouraging, and it never materialized.

In a fit of rage Kay Kerrigan ( Joan Bennett ) blows away her surly boyfriend and takes it on the lam to the Far East. The police commissioner sends a numbers rube, Ben Blodgett (Ralph Bellamy ) and a Lothario Sam Wye, (Fredric March) to retrieve her but she remains a step ahead puddle jumping to Singapore, New Zealand and Ceylon. While Blodget keeps his nose to the ground Wye chases women, one of which turns out to be Kerrigan. Unaware it is her at first he falls in love with Kay. When his secretary (Ann Sothern) arrives on the scene and tells him the reward for her capture and return is a hundred Gs Sam is faced with a tough choice.There is little to no spark in Trade Winds. After a rousing opening the film's rhythm slows and the principles with the exception of a feisty performance from Sothern remain uninspired. Even with Dorothy Parker writing her lines Bennett shows little edge and desperation of someone on the run. March is just as boring, his scenes with Bennet never getting above tepid. Ralph Bellamy is an absolute buffoon playing a provincial prude with an over the top turn that would get him yanked off the stage of community theater. What is most galling about Trade Winds though is some of the worst back projection in film history. Poorly matched and with a totally different texture, director Tay Garnet sloppily slaps it on with contemptuous abandon. Trade Winds blows.

In a time when the world was young and we were happy immortals and the good guys/bad guys demarcation was clearly drawn , there was an unearthly charm to the world. The portrayals by Joan Bennett, Frederick March, Joan Blondell and Ralph Bellamy charm and beguile the soul. The music of Chopin adds a touch of class and elegance.