ACROSS THE PACIFIC (1942)

Although the tone wobbles and the plotting turns into a mess (hey, Pearl Harbor was attacked during production, the ultimate ‘stuff happens’ scenario), much of this John Huston pic has a darkly compelling tone. The cast (Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet) and crew (lens/Arthur Edeson, score/Adolph Deutsch) were largely drawn from Huston’s helming debut, THE MALTESE FALCON, but there’s nothing like the tight construction of Hammett’s classic novel to hold things in place. It’s a spy yarn with Bogie’s disgraced seaman in bed with Filipino Japs, but (surprise!) really part of a double-agent/set-up sting operation. Astor has a mystery angle, too, as does just about everyone on this ship to Panama, and Huston revels in the dramatic unease before the character ‘reveals’ tidy things up. Not the dud it’s rumored to be and it’s a kick to see Bogie play with a gal his own age. (03/21/08)