White Cargo (1942)

In 1910 Africa, the white men working at a rubber plantation are driven to everything from alcoholism to madness because of the incessant jungle heat and boredom but most notably the half caste jungle beauty (Hedy Lamarr) who drives them wild. Based on the 1923 play by Leon Gordon by way of the novel HELL'S PLAYGROUND by Ida Vera Simonton and directed by Richard Thorpe (IVANHOE). Gordon also did the screenplay and he does nothing to disguise its theatrical origins, it's an MGM backlot Africa (what little we see of it). With the exception of the whiskey guzzling doctor played by Frank Morgan, the men in the film are all insufferable and none more so than the prig played by Richard Carlson. What pushes the film into "camp" territory is Lamarr slinking around in dark Egyptian make up, speaking pidgin English in a baby voice and emoting in a manner that I assume is meant to be sexy. She finally got it right in SAMSON AND DELILAH but here she's ludicrous. It's hard to overlook the film's inherent racism and misogyny when a little sympathy toward Lamarr's half caste wouldn't be out of line. But no, she's evil and must be destroyed so the obnoxious white characters can be saved from her clutches. With Bramwell Fletcher and Henry O'Neill.