Monday, March 10, 2008
A Woman's Devotion (aka Battle Shock 1956)

Written by Raven

Any list of the classic attributes of this thing called film noir congers up images of high heels on wet pavement, dark & gritty urban landscapes, double crosses and that four lettered F word; fate.

So how then do honeymooners frolicking on the sun splashed beaches of Acapulco cut the mustard as noir? In no less the works of noted noir authorities Mike Keaney and Art Lyons in their books on the subject; Film Noir Guideand Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film Noiris this film found. As the debate continues to rage over the merits of style vs. theme we’ll have to op out for theme on this hard to find entry. The oft told tale of the unstable WWII vet plays out again with disastrous consequents for any female near our protagonist when a loud noise is heard.

Our story opens to find noir pretty boy Ralph Meeker and equally easy on the eyes Janice Rule as newlyweds Trevor and Stella Stevenson on an extended honeymoon. Just off a banana freighter to Acapulco via the canal, the couple plays and teases one another on the dock without it would seem a care in the world. Of course all’s not right in paradise as Trevor soon complains of a headache brought on by the constant banging from the engine noise. It seems Stella, when booking passage made the error of obtaining a stateroom in close proximity to the engine room. Ends up our girl Stella made another big mistake by getting hooked up with Trevor but when a guys good looking, a war hero (Medal of Honor and Purple Heart), well off (inherited a fortune) and a successful painter well what’s a girl to do?

To relive his headache Stella agrees to take a cab to the hotel and check in while Trevor takes a walk. Arriving at the hotel Stella is introduced to our other primary charter, Police Captain Henrique Monteros played by Paul Henreid (who also directs). In that the Captain is the nephew of the hotel’s owner, he’s got plenty of reason to be around the hotel and of course he’ll have even more in an official capacity later on. The others introduced are of little note with the exception of an over the top lesbian couple placed for comic relief and Maria the hotel maid who will end up carrying the load of the femme fatale.

Switching back to Trevor, we find his walk of relaxation has lead him right to the nearest beachside cantina, a glass of beer and the arms of the obligatory alluring female. Here we discover Trevor’s an artist and he’s always on the lookout for models. The cantina’s waitress, who of course lives nearby is open to the idea of making a couple extra Pecos and suggests she and Trevor get better acquainted at her place. They depart the cantina, the scene fades out and next thing we know its early morning and rover boy’s just making his way into the hotel.



Being the perfect wife, Stella blissfully sleeps away as her wayward husband makes his way into their room and into his bed. She’s only awaken from her slumber when a knock upon the door by Captain Monteros rouses her. The Captain’s the bearer of news of the death of certain waitress at a certain cantina and seen in the company of a certain American tourist who just happens to be sawing logs in the next room. The Captain’s curious as to how Trevor can maintain his peaceful repose and it’s revealed by Stella he suffers from headache and takes medication. This seems to satisfy the Captain but he asks for the couple to visit his office later for some “routine questioning.”

At the station when confronted with the sketchy details of the murder the night before, Trevor is obviously unmoved by the event and states he merely left at the same time as the waitress and did not accompany her home. He’s downright cheerful during the entire process and completed detached from the whole ugly affair. The effect upon him would have been the same had the Captain been reading the hotel lunch menu to him so uncompassionate is his demeanor we’re left thinking perhaps he is in the clear.

Lest those thoughts linger long, soon Maria’s knocking on the door and we find Stella cleaning paint brushes while wearing which is most likely the shortest pair of shorts in noir history and putting them to good use I might add. Upon opening the door Maria displays what she says is proof of Trevor’s involvement with the murder by revealing several sketches made by Trevor. Maria goes on to tell Stella these were found by her in the house of the waitress and she’d be willing to discuss their return for a price. Stella of course believing her husband is innocent nevertheless accompanies Maria to the house of the waitress.

Here we meet the nogoodnick crumb of a husband who was married to the waitress and just so happens to be Maria’s lover. He’s completely unmoved by the lost of his wife and is only interested in the possibility of getting a little compensation for the return of the drawings. In that he’s a rumdum boxer and was away at a match the prior evening he has a perfect alibi. With the disclosure to the drawings all fingers points point again towards Trevor and the clear connection between the finding of the drawings by Maria as opposed to the police when they searched the joint.

When Stella confronts Trevor with the existence of the drawings and the blackmail plot his first thought is to go to the police, tell them he made up the story to spare his wife and that he’s completely innocent of anything but a lapse of good judgment. But upon further review they decide the cops will never buy it so the best course of action is to pay off the blackmailers, charter a fishing boat and skip town.

Trevor will make the money drop at the home of the waitress/boxer/Maria’s hangout and upon arrival finds the boxer dead. Drunk, that is. Maria though is another story and after giving her the money she suggest they cement the deal with a couple of shots of tequila between them. This may have worked, out save for the untimely automobile collision outside and the accompanying load noise just has they’d finished off their second shot. As previously noted Trevor doesn’t dig loud noises, just like a certain Frank Bigelow didn’t like it in the gut and the trip wire of Trevor’s emotions is sprung.

From this point on you can pretty much make book that the demise of both femme fatale and protagonist will play out as mandated by the code of noir, one getting their just desserts as a parasite and the other as a sadly delayed casualty of the war.