by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Although the title of this French melodrama translates as White Cargo, it has nothing to do with the steamy stage play of the same name. Instead, its source was Chemin di Rio, a novel by Jean Masson. A very young Jean-Pierre Aumont plays a crusading reporter who investigates a white-slavery ring. When Aumont disappears, his sweetheart Kate von Nagy vows to continue his work. Inevitably, Nagy falls into the clutches of demonic pimp Jules Berry and jaded madam Suzy Prim. Dismissed by its director Robert Siodmak in later years as "a dirty movie," Cargaison Blanche seems rather sedate when seen today, save for a brief and tasteful nude bathing scene.
