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Cairo

1942, Movie, NR, 101 mins

Cairo: Review

A disappointing hodge-podge of music and intrigue that marked the end of MacDonald's long-term MGM contract. Young is a war correspondent on his way to Cairo. His ship is torpedoed, and he winds up on a raft with Owen. They land in the Libyan desert and have to part when Nazi soldiers approach. But first Owen tells Young to make contact with Barrie in Cairo--she can be recognized by the cocktail she always orders at the same bar every night. Owen claims to be a British spy, and the info he wants passed on is classified. Young arrives in Cairo, meets Barrie, and becomes enamored of MacDonald (traveling with her maid, Waters), an American movie queen in Africa to entertain the English troops. Young is informed by Barrie (in reality, a Nazi spy) that MacDonald is an enemy agent. Now Young learns that Ciannelli (as an Arab) has invented a device that can drop bombs from a plane via radio control. A chase across the desert leads to one of the most preposterous clues ever. Young has been tossing hundred dollar bills along the sand (like the bread crumbs in the children's tale "Hansel and Gretel") until the trail ceases at a pyramid. MacDonald recognizes the clue as "C-Notes," so she hits a few high C's and the door to the pyramid swings open. Young is saved and everyone is happy, except the patrons who paid good money to see this turkey. Lots of good music from several famous tunesmiths and a few fine supporting bits, most notably Hoey as Col. Woodhue. Born Samuel David Hyams, Hoey was always a pleasure to watch, especially as his patented bumbling Scotland Yard man, Inspector Lestrade, in practically all the Sherlock Holmes films. leave a comment