Set in the Bahama islands during the second World War, Passion and Paradise (mislabeled Passion in Paradise on the box art) is an adroit mixture of fact and fiction, sex and romance, and the still-unsolved real-life murder of millionaire Harry Oakes (Rod Steiger, in yet another over-the-top performance that's made him the Tommy Lasorda of the silver screen). Armand Assante is the prime suspect; a recent addition to the island who's left a trail of wealthy widows behind to start up a tropical chicken farm. (Yes, you read correctly. Mavbe that's where teriyaki chicken comes from.) Only the seeds that Assante happen to be sowing are of the coo 'n' woo variety, directed at Steiger's daughter Catherine Mary Stewart, who (sadly) traipses around in just a few skimpy bathing suits, but nothing less revealing. Then again, she is a redhead:          reason enough to grade on a cane.

If you think this mixture bears more in common with F. Scott Fitzgerald than F. J. Lincoln, you'd be right; the passion in the title refers more to a certain state of mind as Assante and Stewart ignite, than to any visual states of dishabille. Still, the picture fairly cooks as Steiger indicates a more-than-fatherly interest in his daughter's affairs. A subsequent visit bv mob representative Michael Sarrazin (out to level their elysian fields for gambling tourists) sets up the murder and Assante's frame job; post-M*A*S*H Wayne Rogers, who probably took the role just to get a decent tan, is Assante's only defense. Spectacularly lensed in the islands, with sumptuous estates and waiting palm trees, this Paradise may lack enough skin for soft-core viewers, but it's got enough passion for a dozen lesser flicks.