Films made around this time always have an interesting behind the scenes story, and "Across the Pacific" from 1942 is no different.
Rick Leland (Humphrey Bogart) is court-marshaled and booted out of the service; he then heads for Canada and attempts to enlist, but the Canadians know who he is and say they can't use him.
Leland then leaves on a Japanese ship for the Orient, making no bones about the fact that his talents are for sale! He meets an attractive woman, Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor) and one Dr. Lorenz (Sidney Greenstreet). Lorenz loves the Japanese and its people, and speaks the language very well.
You'll probably guess most of this.
This is a Maltese Falcon template, with the exception of the absence of Peter Lorre. John Huston directed, but when we entered the war, he left to do documentary films for the government. Vincent Sherman started the film at a difficult moment in the action, and he asked Huston how a particular situation would be resolved. Huston said, "That's your problem!" and left.
Originally this film had to do with stopping an attack on Pearl Harbor, but we all know what happened there, so the plot was changed to the Panama Canal.
I liked this film - there is a lot of light repartee between Bogart and Astor, which is fun and makes the film less intense than it might have been. They worked very well together. And you really can't beat Sidney Greenstreet when it comes to being slimy.
The majority of the Japanese in the movie were actually Chinese since most of the Japanese were interred, a black mark not often discussed, which is odd.
Some exciting action and solid work by all the cast.
Rick Leland (Humphrey Bogart) is court-marshaled and booted out of the service; he then heads for Canada and attempts to enlist, but the Canadians know who he is and say they can't use him.
Leland then leaves on a Japanese ship for the Orient, making no bones about the fact that his talents are for sale! He meets an attractive woman, Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor) and one Dr. Lorenz (Sidney Greenstreet). Lorenz loves the Japanese and its people, and speaks the language very well.
You'll probably guess most of this.
This is a Maltese Falcon template, with the exception of the absence of Peter Lorre. John Huston directed, but when we entered the war, he left to do documentary films for the government. Vincent Sherman started the film at a difficult moment in the action, and he asked Huston how a particular situation would be resolved. Huston said, "That's your problem!" and left.
Originally this film had to do with stopping an attack on Pearl Harbor, but we all know what happened there, so the plot was changed to the Panama Canal.
I liked this film - there is a lot of light repartee between Bogart and Astor, which is fun and makes the film less intense than it might have been. They worked very well together. And you really can't beat Sidney Greenstreet when it comes to being slimy.
The majority of the Japanese in the movie were actually Chinese since most of the Japanese were interred, a black mark not often discussed, which is odd.
Some exciting action and solid work by all the cast.