Affair in Havana

1957 film

Burton Lane
Maurice Zimm

Based onoriginal story by Janet GreenProduced byRichard GoldstoneStarring

John Cassavetes
Raymond Burr

CinematographyAlan StensvoldEdited byStefan ArnstenMusic byErnest Gold

Production
company

Dudley Productions

Distributed byAllied Artists Pictures

Release date

October 1, 1957 (1957-10-01)

Running time

77 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Affair in Havana is a 1957 American film noir crime film directed by László Benedek and written by Maurice Zimm. It stars Raymond Burr and John Cassavetes.^[1]

The film is about a piano player who falls in love with a crippled man's wife.

Plot

Mallabee is a millionaire sugar-cane grower in Cuba who blames his wife, Lorna, for an accident that has left him in a wheelchair.

Lorna has been having an affair with Nick, a piano player in a Havana nightclub. Mallabee secretly is aware of this, having hired a private investigator to follow his wife.

The twisted mind of Mallabee has come up with a scheme in which Lorna kills him. She won't do it, but a trusted servant, Valdes, does cause his death by drowning. However, the relationship between Nick and Lorna comes to an unhappy end.

Cast

John Cassavetes as Nick
Raymond Burr as Mallabee
Sara Shane as Lorna
Lilia Lazo as Fina
Sergio Pena as Valdes
Celia Cruz as Singer
Jose Antonio Rivero as Rivero
Miguel Angel Blanco as Captain of Police

Production

The film was called The Fever Tree and started filming 6 August 1956.^[2]

References

^ Silver, Alain (2010). Film Noir: The Encyclopedia. New York: Overlook Duckworth. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7156-3880-4.
^ SINATRA TO SING FOR DEMOCRATS New York Times 18 July 1956: 22.