La Habanera (film)

La Habanera is a 1937 German melodramatic feature film directed by Detlev Sierck (later Douglas Sirk). Zarah Leander, recently signed by UFA, is the main star in the lead role of Astrée Sternhjelm and performs its title song, "La Habanera". Like many of her films of this era, it proved an enormous box office success.

Plot summary

Astrée and her aunt from Sweden are vacationing in Puerto Rico. Astrée is enchanted by the local habanera music as well as by Don Pedro de Avila, a rich and powerful landowner and former bullfighter. Upon embarkation, she spontaneously decides to stay; she runs down the gangway, finds him waiting for her, and soon is married.

Ten years later - it is now 1937 - Astrée finds herself trapped in an unhappy marriage. Her paradise has turned to hell; her son, Juan, is her only reason to stay. Meanwhile in Stockholm, Dr. Sven Nagel, a former lover of Astrée, and his associate, Dr. Gomez, bid farewell. They are departing for Puerto Rico to investigate the mysterious and deadly Puerto Rico fever. On the island, their arrival is met with dismay by Don Pedro and his business associates as they fear the focus on the Puerto Rico fever will depress their business, so they plan to deny its existence. An earlier attempt by researchers from the Rockefeller Institute to find a cure had been a failure, and the resulting publicity had depressed the local economy and resulted in widespread famine.