Lydia Bailey

Watch: Lydia Bailey

5/30/19521h 29m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Lydia Bailey ... is Haiti, Voodoo and Passion ! ~

Overview:

A young Boston lawyer, Albron Hamlin, goes to Haiti in 1802 to find Lydia Bailey, whose estate he must settle. The island is war-torn in the strife between Toussaing L'Overture, the black president, and the French who are trying to retake possession of the country. Hamlin finds Lydia and, against the background of war and rebellion, they fall in love while helping the Haitians against the French.

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

rebellion
island
haiti
president
lawyer

Cast

Dale Robertson

~ as ~

Albion Hamlin

Anne Francis

~ as ~

Lydia Bailey

Charles Korvin

~ as ~

Col. Gabriel D'autremont

William Marshall

~ as ~

King Dick

Luis van Rooten

~ as ~

General Charles LeClerc

Angos Perez

~ as ~

Paul d'Autremont

Robert Evans

~ as ~

Soldier

Roy Glenn

~ as ~

Mirabeau

Bill Walker

~ as ~

General LaPlume

Rosalind Hayes

~ as ~

Aspodelle

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 5 month(s) ago
6
It's unlucky for "Hamlin" (Dale Robertson) that he arrives in Haiti to help his eponymous client (Anne Francis) settle her father's estate. He steps straight into a war zone as the local population have had enough of living under the Napoleonic yoke and so are galvanised under "L'Overture" (Ken Renard) to fight for their freedom. Initially, he's uninterested in their island's domestic squabbles, but after a while both he and she find themselves more and more embroiled. Thing is, Napoleon is quite fond of his Caribbean paradise and soon we learn he has despatched a fleet to reimpose order. Against such overwhelming odds, can they hope to prevail It's not a bad premiss for a story but it's really let down as it assembles a cast of unremarkable B-listers, takes to a pot-plant clad sound stage and plays a game of pirates. The turbulent history of the island with all of it's voodoo culture is underplayed as is the fact that there wasn't really much unity amongst the residents save for the fact that they were all anti-French! The enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of thing, William Marshall bucks that trend a little with an engagingly mischievous effort as "King Dick" and there are the germs of commentaries about racial equality and respect, but I don't really think Jean Negulesco quite knew who his audience was here, so we never really deliver on any front save for the predictably romantic one. It's watchable enough, but needed much more focussed storytelling.