Port Afrique

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Port Afrique is a 1956 British drama directed by Rudolph Maté. It stars Pier Angeli as Ynez, Philip Carey as Rip Reardon, and Dennis Price as Robert Blackton, with a screenplay by John Cresswell based on the 1948 novel by Bernard Victor Dryer. Set in July 1945, the story follows Rip Reardon, a American pilot who lost his leg in the war, and Ynez, a young woman accused of murdering Rip’s wife. The film was made at Shepperton Studios, with sets by Wilfred Shingleton, and features on-location work in the Casbah in Algiers, as well as Tangier and Morocco. Critics were mixed: the Monthly Film Bulletin called it a slow, hackneyed murder mystery with shallow characters, though the Moroccan-location scenes were refreshing. Kine Weekly praised the colorful backgrounds and atmosphere, noting Angeli’s singing and Rip’s fight but criticizing some performances as stiff; the finale was seen as showy. British critic David Quinlan labeled it mediocre, describing it as a plodding mystery with uneasy stars.