Hedy Lamarr, John Hodiak and George MacReady bring out phoney accents in this story about an illegal immigration racket based in Cuba. This is a decent B movie and Hedy is always welcome.
A Cuban man is being chased on a New York street and gets run over by a cab. Fred Westlake of the Immigration Service starts an investigation. Investigator Pete Karczag (John Hodiak) goes to Havana to look into a racket run by cafe owner Palinov (George MacReady). Karczag poses as an arrogant Hungarian refugee. He buddies up to Plainov and offers him cash to get him to the U.S.
While waiting around he meets Marianne Lorress (Hedy Lamarr). One night he spots her being arrested for working without papers. He convinces a cop that he’s her husband. Harry Nordell is one of Palinov’s gang and discovers Pete’s real ID and reports to Plainov who tells Pete he knows who he is. That doesn’t stop Pete looking for evidence.
Not being a complete dolt he falls for Marianne. He starts typing a resignation letter so he can stay in Cuba with her. She’s not happy when Palinov reveals to her Pete’s real identity. Harry is ordered to kill Pete. No such luck and Pete shoots him down. Pete finds out plans to fly a group including Marianne off the island and calls Westlake.
The pilot panics at a small airport when he sees a mechanic on the phone and thinks he’s been found out. He takes off without filling up with gas. A plane spots him and follows. The pilot crash lands on purpose into a swamp. The chase is on.
It’s a decent time passer and who could complain about Heddy?
