I have seen more films than practically anyone. One thing I really appreciate is a picture that surprises me...one that avoids the usual formulas and cliches. Well, although "Lisbon" seems like a by-the-numbers movie, its final portion manages to offer quite a few surprises...and I really appreciate that.

The film, not surprisingly, is set in Lisbon, Portugal. It centers initially around two very different criminal smugglers....Aristides Mavros (Claude Rains),a man who has no scruples whatsoever, and Captain Robert Evans (Ray Milland),a rogue with few scruples...though how much you'll have to discover through the course of the movie.

Into this den of not niceness arrives a lady who is there to ransom back her rich elderly husband. Sylvia (Maureen O'Hara) is an odd one...and who she is and what her intentions are not clear until later in the movie...which I appreciate. Of course, the Captain is smitten with her....and another lady is smitten with him. How does all this work out? See the film!

An odd movie....not O'Hara's nor Milland's best. But still, it offers enough surprises that I felt pleased overall. Oh, and it was also directed by Milland as well.

Beautiful locations, a most fantastic cast, and some great moments do not make a good movie. This convoluted melodrama tries to be clever, often succeeds in being amusing, but it only comes off with a big huh? It's all about ray Milland aiding Maureen O'Hara in arranging for crooked Rains to help her find her husband, while Milland is pursued by a much younger woman (Yvonne Furneaux) while escorting O'Hara around Lisbon. This shows off the Portuguese locations gorgeously, but a trip to a museum or a travelogue video is quite different than trying to become involved in a political thriller.

The gorgeous Maureen O'Hara seems to have had her voice altered in the editing booth to sound higher pitched, and it comes off as most distracting. Ray Milland seems pike a middle aged man desperate to hang onto his lighthearted appeal and comes off foolish looking. Claude Rains manages to hang onto his dignity, looking dashing with white hair and getting some of the best lines in the film. The opening scene with Rains, some birds and a hungry cat had me dropping my jaw. Francis Lederer comes off as a taller and thinner version of the middle aged Peter Lorre, but lacking in the humor. Milland directs as well (billed as R. Milland),and I have to wonder if he had to put up the money to have it produced with him as the star as well.

Another late in their existence Republic film, it's an interesting example of a company trying to stay afloat yet failing, much like RKO was doing at the very same time. O'Hara is still gorgeous, formidable and mesmerizing, but Milland comes off as a bit misogynistic and unworthy of all the female attention he gets here. The story really just isn't all that interesting, and the script just seems to get more pretentious as it goes on. But since this is the closest I'll get to Lisbon in my lifetime, I'll take the opportunity to see it as it was long before I was born, with a bit of encyclopedia Britannica history thrown in.

Ray Milland produced, directed, acted, and made out with two beautiful women in "Lisbon" from 1956.

This is a gorgeous color film shot on location in Portugal. A smuggler, Evans (Milland) is hired by a local Greek smuggler, criminal, and jewel thief, Aristides Mavros (Claude Rains) to sneak an imprisoned American out of communist-controlled territory.

The man's wife, Sylvia Merrill (Maureen O'Hara) is paying for the release, and she is not sure whom she can trust. She comes to trust Milland, and also seemingly fall in love with him.

She's not alone - a young woman (Yvonne Furneaux) who lives in Mavros' mansion, is also attracted to him. This is upsetting to Seraphim (Frances Lederer),Mavros' major domo who would like to see Milland dead.

We eventually find out Sylvia's agenda - she'd kind of like it if her husband didn't come back in the best of health - i.e., dead. He's old and she's tired of him.

Claude Rains is terrific as the evil Mavros. He always brings class to any production. What will happen when Evans picks up Merrill? Can he even trust Mavros to pay him? Or does he have an agenda as well?

This was done in Republic's Naturama process, and it's very well done. Not the most scintillating story, but great locations.