MovieChat Forums > Crisis (1950) Discussion > I guess Bolivia

I guess Bolivia

posted 9 years ago by allen-406-128450
2 replies | jump to latest

This is from the trivia section but the writer never explains these three clues.

"Although great pains were used to disguise the name of the country in the film, Dr. Ferguson mentions that Pres. Farrago should go to a neurological hospital (which he mentions is just across the border) in Chile - which narrows the country down to either Argentina, Bolivia, or Peru. Other hints include: Peso/Dollar law, the blankets worn on the train, license plates on vehicles."

Peru did not have the peso as a currency. Early on they mentioned going back to the boat so that would rule out land-locked Bolivia as their origin point. The guitar player sounded tango-ey so that could be Buenos Aires. But there was that long train ride with mountain scenery to deliver the doctor to the capital. My guess is they were kidnapped in either Argentina or Chile and taken to Bolivia.

I know there are problems with this guess but I'm trying to solicit some more clues/guesses here.

[–] dannieboy20906 8 years ago

Isabella Farrago also gives a clue. When we first see her, she tells the American she is conversing with "Your company made millions from my country's oil." The major oil producers in Latin America are Brazil (Portuguese is the official language), Mexico (definitely not there), and Venezuela. That makes it sound like it is Venezuela, but it is not adjacent to Chile.

It is, of course an imaginary country that exists only in the minds of the authors. It is probably an amalgam of the traits of multiple Latin American countries. They could choose the geographic, economic, and cultural features to match the needs of their plot.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] eolloe 8 years ago

I think you're right that it's an amalgam. The writer could have originally had Chile in mind but threw in the bit about going to Chile as obfuscation. (Incidentally, I don't think they said the country was adjacent to Chile. Just that Chile had one or some of the top neurosurgeons in the region.)

Remember that they mentioned "the earthquake." There's a list of the deadliest Latin American earthquakes of the 20th century. Up to 1950, Chile is at the number 1 and 2 positions with 8.4 and 8.6 magnitude earthquakes that killed 50,000, followed by Argentina, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, and Colombia. No Venezuela. On the other hand, it's also a mountainous country, and oil plays an important role in relations with the US, although we aren't told just how important.