Any movie that features Clark Gable in a pith helmet has got to be great, right?
Well... kind of...
The first two-thirds of "They Met In Bombay" is simply fantastic. Clark Gable is at his cocky-best as a con artist trying to steal a rare jewel, and Rosalind Russell is gorgeous as his love-interest/rival. The story moves along at a brisk pace and soon the two stars find they have more in common than they knew and that they might be falling in love. The beauty parlor scene is hilarious, as is the scene where the two leads are stuck in an elevator. The movie is funny, engaging, romantic and sweet classic Hollywood at its best. Sadly, the final third of the movie takes a strange and sudden turn and the story falls apart as a result.
Most of the movie is a joy, with Gable and Russell romancing on the lam, and Peter Lorre turns up as some money-loving Chinaman crackpot, still speaking with his exaggerated coo, but then the movie swerves off the road and over the embankment. Gable impersonates a Canadian soldier as part of a scam and is then remanded to a military base and denied any access to the outside world. Still being mistaken for a soldier he is thrown into battle, where his sweet but unlikely heroism is almost as hard to believe as Russell's presence on the sidelines.
Finally, Gable is awarded the Victoria Cross- the military's highest honor- only to discover he's been double-crossed by his true love. But that's no problem, because the serious part of the story is evidently over, and Gable is able to sneak in two bizarre and implausible twists in the final 90 seconds of the story. The awkward, contrived ending negates most of the movie's nice moments they met in Bombay, and they should have stayed there.
GRADE: C
Well... kind of...
The first two-thirds of "They Met In Bombay" is simply fantastic. Clark Gable is at his cocky-best as a con artist trying to steal a rare jewel, and Rosalind Russell is gorgeous as his love-interest/rival. The story moves along at a brisk pace and soon the two stars find they have more in common than they knew and that they might be falling in love. The beauty parlor scene is hilarious, as is the scene where the two leads are stuck in an elevator. The movie is funny, engaging, romantic and sweet classic Hollywood at its best. Sadly, the final third of the movie takes a strange and sudden turn and the story falls apart as a result.
Most of the movie is a joy, with Gable and Russell romancing on the lam, and Peter Lorre turns up as some money-loving Chinaman crackpot, still speaking with his exaggerated coo, but then the movie swerves off the road and over the embankment. Gable impersonates a Canadian soldier as part of a scam and is then remanded to a military base and denied any access to the outside world. Still being mistaken for a soldier he is thrown into battle, where his sweet but unlikely heroism is almost as hard to believe as Russell's presence on the sidelines.
Finally, Gable is awarded the Victoria Cross- the military's highest honor- only to discover he's been double-crossed by his true love. But that's no problem, because the serious part of the story is evidently over, and Gable is able to sneak in two bizarre and implausible twists in the final 90 seconds of the story. The awkward, contrived ending negates most of the movie's nice moments they met in Bombay, and they should have stayed there.
GRADE: C