Popular in its day, now overlooked, this film noir may not have much Calcutta atmosphere (not even much Paramount Studios Calcutta atmosphere), but gets full measure out of an ‘original’ Seton I. Miller screenplay that leans heavily on THE MALTESE FALCON/’41 and CASABLANCA/’42 for story beats & characters. (Alan Ladd was never so Bogie-ish; it also explains the strange presence of debuting grotesquerie Edith King, a sort of gender-flipped Sydney Greenstreet.) Flying cargo in & out of Calcutta with William Bendix & John Whitney, three pals who play the field with exotic beauties like June Duprez, or did until Whitney announces his engagement to Gail Russell, revealing a sultry, slightly corrupt beauty in her best perf. But when Whitney turns up dead and a cache of gems goes missing, Ladd & Bendix are under suspicion even as they attempt to find the real killer(s). Wary of the fiancé, Ladd soon falls for her . . . but is he being taken for a ride? The usual investigation almost makes sense in this one, but what really puts it over is the visual boost director John Farrow gets from cinematography great John Seitz, almost as transforming here as he’d recently been to writer/directors Billy Wilder & Preston Sturges. Even more impressive when you consider that Farrow had been directing for a decade and made over a score of largely unmemorable films.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Look fast to spot Hollywood’s first ever female croupier at a gambling table. And check out some fine model airplane work in a pair of emergency landings. Impressive F/X for the period. (Presumably by Devereaux Jennings and better-known kid brother Gordon.)
DOUBLE-BILL: Seitz also brought more style than Farrow was wont to use on THE BIG CLOCK/’48, an escalating suspenser with opulent perfs by Ray Milland, Charles Laughton & Elsa Lancaster.
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