"Lisbon" (1956) was directed by Ray Milland. In theory, the stars are Milland, as Capt. Robert John Evans, Maureen O'Hara as wealthy Sylvia Merrill, Claude Rains as rich gangster Aristides Mavros, and Yvonne Furneaux as Maria Maddalena Masanet, a young woman who is "secretary" to Mavros. In fact, the real star of the movie is the beautiful city of Lisbon. The plot involves Rains as a successful Greek criminal, and Milland as a smuggler. They are both "gentlemen thieves," but Milland is an honest thief, and Rains is a very dishonest thief.Maureen O'Hara is the wife of a wealthy man being held captive somewhere. (Somehow, the U.S. State Department is involved as well, although it what never clear to me what they were doing in the movie.)The plot reminded me of "To Have and Have Not," except that Milland isn't Bogart, and O'Hara isn't Bacall. (Actually, I should say Furneaux isn't Bacall. It's complicated.) The best part of the film is the few minutes when Milland and O'Hara spend time in a fado club. The beautiful young fadista is the brilliant Anita Guerreiro. Now, 60 years later, Guerreiro is still singing fado in Lisbon. We heard here sing the fado in a club in April, 2017!We saw this film on (gasp) VHS. It would probably work better in a theater, but it's unlikely that anyone will ever show it, except maybe in a retrospective of one of the leads. If you have VHS capability, watch it that way. Just don't expect to see a thrilling melodrama. Expect to see the city of Lisbon, and that's a city worth seeing.To summarize, if you want to see boats and bad guys, watch "To Have and Have Not." If you want to see Lisbon and hear Guerreiro, watch "Lisbon."P.S. Dumbest line in the show, spoken by by Milland when O'Hara asks him about the fado Lisboa Antiga. "It's home sweet home for Brazilians." It's not.Smartest line in the show, spoken by Yvonne Furneaux, when she tells Milland that he's going to be killed, and he ignores her. "Imbecile!"

Beautiful locations, a most fantastic cast, and some great moments do not make a good movie. This convoluted melodrama tries to be clever, often succeeds in being amusing, but it only comes off with a big huh? It's all about ray Milland aiding Maureen O'Hara in arranging for crooked Rains to help her find her husband, while Milland is pursued by a much younger woman (Yvonne Furneaux) while escorting O'Hara around Lisbon. This shows off the Portuguese locations gorgeously, but a trip to a museum or a travelogue video is quite different than trying to become involved in a political thriller.The gorgeous Maureen O'Hara seems to have had her voice altered in the editing booth to sound higher pitched, and it comes off as most distracting. Ray Milland seems pike a middle aged man desperate to hang onto his lighthearted appeal and comes off foolish looking. Claude Rains manages to hang onto his dignity, looking dashing with white hair and getting some of the best lines in the film. The opening scene with Rains, some birds and a hungry cat had me dropping my jaw. Francis Lederer comes off as a taller and thinner version of the middle aged Peter Lorre, but lacking in the humor. Milland directs as well (billed as R. Milland), and I have to wonder if he had to put up the money to have it produced with him as the star as well. Another late in their existence Republic film, it's an interesting example of a company trying to stay afloat yet failing, much like RKO was doing at the very same time. O'Hara is still gorgeous, formidable and mesmerizing, but Milland comes off as a bit misogynistic and unworthy of all the female attention he gets here. The story really just isn't all that interesting, and the script just seems to get more pretentious as it goes on. But since this is the closest I'll get to Lisbon in my lifetime, I'll take the opportunity to see it as it was long before I was born, with a bit of encyclopedia Britannica history thrown in.

Ray Milland was not a great director, as this effort shows. This colour film shows much of Lisbon and the surrounding area in the mid-1950s, which is welcome. There are several excellent performances. Claude Rains is magnificent as usual as a devious and urbane crook, Francis (originally Franz) Lederer is superb as his henchman and assassin, underplaying and thereby increasing the menace of his character (which in the script cannot have amounted to much). Yvonne Furneaux is a charming ingenue who tries very hard indeed to be convincing about throwing herself into the arms of an aged Ray Milland and telling him she loves him. Maureen O'Hara flashes her usual Irish fire, but she also has to tell Milland she loves him, and two beautiful gals throwing themselves at Milland in competition is really too much to take, since he looks like he needs a month's rest in a sanatorium rather than a heady romance. Milland always had great 'watchability' and he still retains some in this film. This film has a very weak script and absolutely atrocious cinematography by Jack Marta, who seems only to use about two lights in his interiors. A friend who worked with Ray Milland once told me that Milland was the meanest man with money he had ever known, and he would always try to share taxis with poor actors and then pretend he had forgotten his money and make them pay. (That is why everyone tried to avoid sharing cabs with Milland.) Perhaps Milland, who co-produced this venture, was too mean to pay Marta to have proper lights! The interior shadows and lighting are simply unimaginably awful.There is an equally atrocious score by Nelson Riddle. Somebody should have taken a whip and beaten Milland back into his box. He had no business producing and directing. There is a fine authentic song performed by Anita Guerreiro in this film, who gives us a few moments of real music. Milland obviously loved Portugal, and we can be grateful for his enthusiasm in showing some of it to us as it was then. If only the film had come up to a higher standard, we would be able to say on our postcards: 'Having a wonderful viewing, wish you were here!'

Lisbon is the local for this adventure romance, starring Ray Milland and Maureen O'Hara. It is beautifully photographed on location and the story is rousing and the intrigue suspenseful. Claude Rains, is the thief who Sullivan hires to get back her elderly husband, a millionaire, who has been kidnapped by the Chinese. Rains, is of course, suave, devious, and wonderful as the man of many tastes, including beautiful young women. He has always been good in such a part, as he was in Notorious, as the Nazi spy. Ray Milland is dashing, elegant and just nice to look at. His part as the smuggler gives him a chance to use a little comedy, especially when pursued by a beautiful young woman who Raines employs as a "secretary." She is enamored of Milland and she tries to help him escape the hands of Sarafin, who works for Raines and wants to kill Milland to keep the girl for himself. Maureen seduces Milland, but he rejects her advances after she tells him she wants her husband back "dead." He returns the husband alive, and Raines is picked up by the police for the smuggling that Milland was doing all along. Nice twists all around. Milland is still so wonderful to look at and listen to, it is not surprising that all the women are in love with him. For those who thought that Yvonne Furneaux had a hard time throwing herself into the arms of Milland, you have to remember that she is living with Claude Rains as his mistress. Therefore Milland would not look older to her. He directs this film with just enough pace to make it interesting, and the O'Hara character is smooth and crafty. Beautiful to look at scenery only adds to the pictures appeal.