I'm still waiting to discover a good movie in which Jane Russell starred. I haven't seen one yet. If you know of one, let me know. Best as I can tell, Howard Hughes tried to make her a star for two reasons: her breasts. It couldn't have been for her acting ability or that her presence would enhance a quality film. Those just didn't happen. Her films were a bust (pun intended.)
You would think it would be almost impossible to shoot a boring film that also included Robert Mitchum, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez and Gloria Grahame....but here it is! The screen time of Bendix and Grahame are woefully small, otherwise this might have been more interesting. The other (lead) characters in this movie are simply not people you care about.
The fault of this movie, in addition to unlikeable lead characters, is that it simply isn't entertaining. It's dull, folks, almost as drab as it gets. What a shame. It sure didn't have to be with that cast. Mitchum and Bendix were fun to watch in "The Big Steal," but the only steal in this film is your money to buy or rent this movie.
I love film noir, and I liked the exotic setting in here, but this story is so bad I hate to even classify it in that genre (noir). Director Josef Von Sternberg was at the end of his career....and it shows. In fact, he didn't finish this movie. They had to call in Nicholas Ray to do that. This film, in a way, was a poor man's "Morocco," I say "poor man" because Jane Russell was no Marlene Dietrich and "Macao" is no "Morocco."
The only saving grace is that the running time is short. You only have to suffer for 81 minutes. I wouldn't even recommend that.
You would think it would be almost impossible to shoot a boring film that also included Robert Mitchum, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez and Gloria Grahame....but here it is! The screen time of Bendix and Grahame are woefully small, otherwise this might have been more interesting. The other (lead) characters in this movie are simply not people you care about.
The fault of this movie, in addition to unlikeable lead characters, is that it simply isn't entertaining. It's dull, folks, almost as drab as it gets. What a shame. It sure didn't have to be with that cast. Mitchum and Bendix were fun to watch in "The Big Steal," but the only steal in this film is your money to buy or rent this movie.
I love film noir, and I liked the exotic setting in here, but this story is so bad I hate to even classify it in that genre (noir). Director Josef Von Sternberg was at the end of his career....and it shows. In fact, he didn't finish this movie. They had to call in Nicholas Ray to do that. This film, in a way, was a poor man's "Morocco," I say "poor man" because Jane Russell was no Marlene Dietrich and "Macao" is no "Morocco."
The only saving grace is that the running time is short. You only have to suffer for 81 minutes. I wouldn't even recommend that.