# Help with movie id.



## LordSmoke (Dec 25, 2012)

:icon_scratch: Some time back, I saw an old black-and-white movie. The cast were all very well-known, but I can't recall any of their names. 

The story line involved a man and a woman in some seemingly exotic local. In an elegant club-like (tropical?) setting, another man and a woman were chit-chatting with a string of unique individuals all apparently on the make to try and identify a particular, unknown one (spy? courier?). One I recall was a salesman of sorts thinking he was going to make a deal on a ton of items (toilets?) with the inquiring man. Lot's of ambiguous, double-meaning dialog. There was also a component about the original man and woman disposing of a body in a euro-looking car. And, there was a light, IIRC, comedic component.

The reason of my lack of specific memory, and my reason for posting here, is that I was most fascinated and focused on looking at what I recall was the original man's seersucker suit trying to convince myself it looked good and I could pull it off.

Too little info? Might I be confusing two movies?

Any ideas? 

TIA


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## RM Bantista (May 30, 2009)

Sorry, this does not call anything to mind at the moment.
Of course, one loves these sort of queries, as they may elicit unexpected responses.
A bit more detail of the tone and technologies of the movie may be helpful, as this may be any sort of film (clearly not a musical, and so forth) from the 1930's through the 1940's, but brings to mind the snap, dialog, locale, themes, and elements of many genre of movies in those times.
Please do remember that many of the greatest writers, directors, casts, and crews were all on contract to studios with the ability to mount an inexpensive production that had the expertise of the world at their whim.
It was the best of times and the worst of times, as you may know and someone else said in another context altogether; however, seersucker suits are still here and also still classic. Perhaps a memory of the garment may be more germain in the present moment?
Regards,
rudy
rudy


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Great dialogue. Light. Comedic. Yet a death/murder involved. Sounds very "Thin Man"-ish...


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## LordSmoke (Dec 25, 2012)

Thanks. I don't think it was the thin-man, not the right lead IIRC. I read "The Thin Man" during my last trip abroad. Not bad. A colleague who also uses the rooms has it packed with crime novels.


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## Acme (Oct 5, 2011)

Beat the Devil comes to mind. Was that it?


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## Joe Frances (Sep 1, 2004)

Sounds like "Our Man in Havana" with Sir Alec Guinness.


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## RM Bantista (May 30, 2009)

Joe Frances said:


> Sounds like "Our Man in Havana" with Sir Alec Guinness.


Joe Frances, you may have solved it. Seems a sound suggestion. Unfortunately not a picture one has seen recently. But perhaps Lord Smoke's question has been answered at last.
regards,
rudy


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## LordSmoke (Dec 25, 2012)

Wow! :icon_smile: We may have a winner. Anyway, looks like a worthy movie. I will try to see if it is available on Netflix or Amazon this weekend. Thanks.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

'Our Man in Havana' is certainly worth viewing, but I don't think it is the film you saw - although some of the story line does bring it to mind. The hero, Alec Guinness, is a hoover salesman (in Havana) who is then persuaded (by Noel Coward) to become a secret agent for the British government. There is a nice Alfa-Romeo sports car (or possibly a Mercedes), driven by the local police chief, and there are a number of deaths, but no toilets. And Guinness's suit was linen, not seersucker.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Langham said:


> 'Our Man in Havana' is certainly worth viewing, but I don't think it is the film you saw - although some of the story line does bring it to mind. The hero, Alec Guinness, is a hoover salesman (in Havana) who is then persuaded (by Noel Coward) to become a secret agent for the British government. There is a nice Alfa-Romeo sports car (or possibly a Mercedes), driven by the local police chief, and there are a number of deaths, but no toilets. And Guinness's suit was linen, not seersucker.


This is frequently why the movie I thought I saw is never as good as the movie I actually saw!!


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