Despite having seen him mentioned in a number of posts on IMDb's Film Noir board,I have somehow never got round to seeing a title by director Robert Aldrich.Taking a look at Film Noir movies released in 1954 recently,I was happy to spot a near-forgotten Aldrich film,which led to me excitingly getting ready to see the world being held for ransom.
The plot:
Singapore-
Heading to a bar, Mike Callahan is gripped by Singapore leading racketeering gangster Johnny Chan.Planning to control the entire rubber industry in the city by keeping his stock hidden in a near by jungle,Chan reveals that he suspects Callahan is up to some dirty tricks,due to Callahan's friend Julian March and psychotic thug Guzik having recently taken over the location.Explaining to Chan that he has not seen his friend for ages,Callahan gets Chan to give him some time to find out what his friend has gotten involved in.
Hoping to find info by meeting Marchs wife (and his former sweetheart) Frennessey March Callahan is shocked to find that Julian has completely disappeared from sight.As Callahan starts to search round the city for Julian,Julian sets his sights on kidnapping one of the world's leading nuclear scientist.
View on the film:
Filmed for 10 days, (with Aldrich taking the odd day off so that he could film some adverts in order to pay for post-production!) on a $90,000 budget and using most of the cast and sets from the TV series China Smith/Captain China,director Robert Aldrich gives the movie a tremendous Asia atmosphere,thanks to Aldrich using stark lights which transform the TV set into a boiling hot Singapore.Along with the heated atmosphere,Aldrich and cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc expertly use mirror shot angles to show the non-ruthless Film Noir world which Callahan desires to be in.
Whilst the screenplay did sadly suffer some cuts from the ratings board, (which included an important lesbian subplot)Lindsay Hardy and Hugo Butler (who was uncredited,due to being blacklisted) is still able to include some sly satirical nods to the Allied occupation of the far East during WWII,and also show themselves to be rather ahead of their time,by keeping away from featuring clichés associated with titles set in Asia at the time.Along with the satirical shots,the writers also create an excellent Film Noir world where Callahan soon discovers that friendships can turn into dusts in mere seconds.
Looking round the smoke filled streets of Singapore, Dan Duryea gives a strong performance as Callahan,with Duryea showing Callahan's war scars to run deep in his murky relationship with Julian.Being Julian and Callahan's object of affection,the very pretty Marian Carr gives a wonderfully icy performance as femme fatale Frennessey March,whilst Patric Knowles gives an extremely charming,brash performance as Julian,with Knowles showing Julian to slowly lose his sanity,as he prepares to hold the world for ransom.
The plot:
Singapore-
Heading to a bar, Mike Callahan is gripped by Singapore leading racketeering gangster Johnny Chan.Planning to control the entire rubber industry in the city by keeping his stock hidden in a near by jungle,Chan reveals that he suspects Callahan is up to some dirty tricks,due to Callahan's friend Julian March and psychotic thug Guzik having recently taken over the location.Explaining to Chan that he has not seen his friend for ages,Callahan gets Chan to give him some time to find out what his friend has gotten involved in.
Hoping to find info by meeting Marchs wife (and his former sweetheart) Frennessey March Callahan is shocked to find that Julian has completely disappeared from sight.As Callahan starts to search round the city for Julian,Julian sets his sights on kidnapping one of the world's leading nuclear scientist.
View on the film:
Filmed for 10 days, (with Aldrich taking the odd day off so that he could film some adverts in order to pay for post-production!) on a $90,000 budget and using most of the cast and sets from the TV series China Smith/Captain China,director Robert Aldrich gives the movie a tremendous Asia atmosphere,thanks to Aldrich using stark lights which transform the TV set into a boiling hot Singapore.Along with the heated atmosphere,Aldrich and cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc expertly use mirror shot angles to show the non-ruthless Film Noir world which Callahan desires to be in.
Whilst the screenplay did sadly suffer some cuts from the ratings board, (which included an important lesbian subplot)Lindsay Hardy and Hugo Butler (who was uncredited,due to being blacklisted) is still able to include some sly satirical nods to the Allied occupation of the far East during WWII,and also show themselves to be rather ahead of their time,by keeping away from featuring clichés associated with titles set in Asia at the time.Along with the satirical shots,the writers also create an excellent Film Noir world where Callahan soon discovers that friendships can turn into dusts in mere seconds.
Looking round the smoke filled streets of Singapore, Dan Duryea gives a strong performance as Callahan,with Duryea showing Callahan's war scars to run deep in his murky relationship with Julian.Being Julian and Callahan's object of affection,the very pretty Marian Carr gives a wonderfully icy performance as femme fatale Frennessey March,whilst Patric Knowles gives an extremely charming,brash performance as Julian,with Knowles showing Julian to slowly lose his sanity,as he prepares to hold the world for ransom.