A Salamandra de Ouro

Not really poorly made, but more so mediocre, the film's biggest downfall is the lack of any solid plot. The darkness of the shots at the beginning of the film make it hard to see what is going, however one is able to make out that the protagonist has stumbled across some illegal activity. The first third of the film progresses along with the mystery of what they were doing being the only thing driving the plot. Soon after the mystery is revealed, a romance begins, and the rest of the films ties in the protagonist's love interest to how he deals with the crooks. In other words, it is a bit of a mess, and a bit of a predictable one too. Trevor Howard is a good choice for the lead, but the rest of the acting is merely adequate. To the film's virtue, Neame captures the intriguing nature of a foreign environment and atmosphere well, the locations are good, and close-ups are used well to tell certain parts of the tale. It is probably worth a look for fans of Neame and/or Howard.