Get Bribed, Ask Me How

5 Great Stars in a Daring Drama of Love and Adventure!

Last week I mentioned my one film Robert Taylor kick. Well, the film was 1949's The Bribe.

Neat film really, with some great actors playing some really seedy characters. Let's see...Vincent Price faking a southern-ish accent. Charles Laughton as a swindling bum with a foot impediment. Oh, yeah, Ava Gardner & John Hodiak also round out the bunch as some of your more *normal* characters. Let me grab you the plot synopsis from IMDB:

"In pursuit of stolen aircraft engines on a Central American island, federal agent Rigby meets chief suspect Hintten and his wife Elizabeth, a sultry cafe singer; and is watched by Bealer, a "pie-shaped man" with sore feet. Rigby knows he's on the right track when Bealer offers him money to leave Carlota. When Rigby and Elizabeth are drawn to each other, the gang realizes there's more than one kind of bribe. Everybody sweats."

I'll second the last line of that description. Either they filmed the movie in a place that truly was warm, or they had a lot of spray water bottles laying around. You know, they faked the snow in It's a Wonderful Life with corn flakes & soap chips....whoops, I'm digressing.

Potential plot buster - don't read on if you don't want a hint of the end: I love the last scene of the movies - Robert & Vincent in a gunfight, in the middle of a fireworks display. Bullet or cherry bomb - you decide. The camera angles & lighting are slick.