1942. Tortilla Flat, based on an early novel by John Steinbeck, gives Hedy Lamarr her first non-glamorous role, a challenge she relishes. She plays the part of Dolores Sweets Martinez, an impoverished cannery worker living in Monterey on the coast of California. Tortilla Flat is one of Hedy’s better films. Reviewing it in the 22 May issue of The New York Times, Bosley Crowther describes it as “really a little idyll which turns its back on a workaday world…it is filled with solid humor and compassion—and that is pleasant, even for folks who have to work.” The reviewer in the 22 April issue of Variety is full of praise for the actress: “Hedy Lamar not only looks stunning as the Portuguese girl, but gives easily her best dramatic performance so far.”
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