Macao (
1952The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) is a
black-and-whiteBlack-and-white is a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses....
film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
adventure film directed by
Josef von SternbergJosef von Sternberg aka Jonas Sternberg was an Austrian-American film director. He is one of the earliest examples of 'auteur' filmmakers, and practised many other skills while making his films including cinematographer, writer, and editor...
and
Nicholas RayNicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause.-Early career:...
. Producer
Howard HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer, film director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world. He gained fame in the late 1920s as a maverick film producer, making big budget and often controversial films like Hell's Angels,...
fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired
Nicholas RayNicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause.-Early career:...
to finish it. The drama features
Robert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and...
,
Jane RussellJane Russell is an American film actress.-Early life:Born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in Bemidji, Minnesota, she was the only daughter of Roy William Russell and Geraldine Jacobi...
, and
William BendixWilliam Bendix was an American film actor.-Early life:Bendix, named for his paternal grandfather, was born in Manhattan, New York City, the only son of Cleveland-born Oscar and London-born Hilda Bendix...
.
Three strangers arrive at the port of
MacaoMação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....
on the same ship: Nick Cochran (Robert Mitchum), a cynical-but-honest ex-serviceman, Julie Benson (Jane Russell), an equally cynical, sultry night club singer, and Lawrence Trumble (William Bendix), a traveling salesman who deals in both silk stockings and
contrabandThe English word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," derived via Italian contrabbando from Latin contra "against" + Middle Latin bannum , denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed,...
.
Corrupt police Lieutenant Sebastian (
Thomas GomezThomas Gomez was an American actor.Born Sabino Tomas Gomez in New York, New York, Gomez began his acting career in theater during the 1920s and was a student of the actor Walter Hampden...
) notifies casino owner and underworld boss Vincent Halloran (
Brad DexterBrad Dexter was a Serbian American actor, best known for his role as Harry Luck in The Magnificent Seven....
) about the new arrivals.
Macao (
1952The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) is a
black-and-whiteBlack-and-white is a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses....
film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
adventure film directed by
Josef von SternbergJosef von Sternberg aka Jonas Sternberg was an Austrian-American film director. He is one of the earliest examples of 'auteur' filmmakers, and practised many other skills while making his films including cinematographer, writer, and editor...
and
Nicholas RayNicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause.-Early career:...
. Producer
Howard HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer, film director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world. He gained fame in the late 1920s as a maverick film producer, making big budget and often controversial films like Hell's Angels,...
fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired
Nicholas RayNicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause.-Early career:...
to finish it. The drama features
Robert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and...
,
Jane RussellJane Russell is an American film actress.-Early life:Born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in Bemidji, Minnesota, she was the only daughter of Roy William Russell and Geraldine Jacobi...
, and
William BendixWilliam Bendix was an American film actor.-Early life:Bendix, named for his paternal grandfather, was born in Manhattan, New York City, the only son of Cleveland-born Oscar and London-born Hilda Bendix...
.
Plot
Three strangers arrive at the port of
MacaoMação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....
on the same ship: Nick Cochran (Robert Mitchum), a cynical-but-honest ex-serviceman, Julie Benson (Jane Russell), an equally cynical, sultry night club singer, and Lawrence Trumble (William Bendix), a traveling salesman who deals in both silk stockings and
contrabandThe English word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," derived via Italian contrabbando from Latin contra "against" + Middle Latin bannum , denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed,...
.
Corrupt police Lieutenant Sebastian (
Thomas GomezThomas Gomez was an American actor.Born Sabino Tomas Gomez in New York, New York, Gomez began his acting career in theater during the 1920s and was a student of the actor Walter Hampden...
) notifies casino owner and underworld boss Vincent Halloran (
Brad DexterBrad Dexter was a Serbian American actor, best known for his role as Harry Luck in The Magnificent Seven....
) about the new arrivals. Halloran has tipped off about an undercover New York City policeman out to lure him into
international watersThe terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands...
so he can be arrested. With only three strangers to choose from, Halloran assumes Nick is the cop. He tries to bribe a puzzled Nick to leave Macao, but Nick is interested in getting to know Julie better and turns him down. Halloran hires Julie as a singer, in part to find out what she knows about Nick.
Later, Trumble offers Nick a commission to help him sell a stolen diamond necklace. However, when Nick shows Halloran a diamond from the necklace, Halloran recognizes it; he had sent the jewelry to Hong Kong only a week earlier to be sold. Now sure of Nick's identity, he has the American taken prisoner for later questioning.
Nick is guarded by two thugs and Halloran's jealous girlfriend, Margie (
Gloria GrahameGloria Grahame was an American actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
).
Worried that Halloran is planning to dump her for Julie, Margie lets Nick escape, with the two guards close behind. When Trumble happens on the late-night chase, he tries to help Nick and is killed, mistaken by the thugs for Nick. Before he dies, he tells Nick about the police boat waiting offshore.
When Nick tries to get Julie to go away with him, he learns that Halloran has invited her on a trip to Hong Kong (to retrieve his property). With this information, Nick is able to dispose of Halloran's murderous henchman, Itzumi (
Philip AhnPhilip Ahn was a Korean-American actor. Ahn was born Pil Lip Ahn in Highland Park, California.-Early life:...
), and take the helm of Halloran's boat. He steers for the waiting police and hands Halloran over to them.
Cast
- Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and...
as Nick Cochran
- Jane Russell
Jane Russell is an American film actress.-Early life:Born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in Bemidji, Minnesota, she was the only daughter of Roy William Russell and Geraldine Jacobi...
as Julie Benson
- William Bendix
William Bendix was an American film actor.-Early life:Bendix, named for his paternal grandfather, was born in Manhattan, New York City, the only son of Cleveland-born Oscar and London-born Hilda Bendix...
as Lawrence C. Trumble
- Thomas Gomez
Thomas Gomez was an American actor.Born Sabino Tomas Gomez in New York, New York, Gomez began his acting career in theater during the 1920s and was a student of the actor Walter Hampden...
as Lt. Sebastian
- Gloria Grahame
Gloria Grahame was an American actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
as Margie
- Brad Dexter
Brad Dexter was a Serbian American actor, best known for his role as Harry Luck in The Magnificent Seven....
as Vincent Halloran
- Edward Ashley as Martin Stewart
- Philip Ahn
Philip Ahn was a Korean-American actor. Ahn was born Pil Lip Ahn in Highland Park, California.-Early life:...
as Itzumi
- Vladimir Sokoloff
Vladimir Nikolaevich Sokoloff was a character actor with many films to his credit.-Biography:Sokoloff was born in Moscow, Russia. He became an actor and assistant director with the Moscow Art Theatre, before emigrating to Berlin in 1923...
as Kwan Sum Tang
Production
When many of Von Sternberg's scenes made no sense dramatically, Ray asked Mitchum to write several bridging scenes.
CinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Harry J. WildHarry J. Wild, A.S.C. was a film and television cinematographer. Wild worked at RKO Pictures studios from 1931 through the 1950s. In total Wild was involved in 91 major film projects and two extended television series....
worked on the film and filming was completed in 1950 but the film was not released until 1952. Only stock footage was shot on location in
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
and
MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
.
Critical reception
Film critic Dennis Schwartz lauded the casting of Jane Russell and Robert Mitchum, writing, "A wonderfully tongue-in-cheek scripted RKO adventure story directed by Josef von Sternberg...Jane Russell enthralls as she gets romanced by the laconic Mitchum, and they create movie magic together through their brilliant nuanced performances. The sultry actress was never better, as she belts out a few torch songs, tosses insults at Mitchum with natural ease, shows her romantic side and looks right through the leering bad guys of Macao as if they didn't exist. She's the good-bad girl, while he's the hard-luck innocent who can't even win when playing with loaded dice. They're both
film noir characters, who Jane sums up when she tells her man: 'Everybody's lonely, worried, and sorry. Everybody's looking for something.' If you are looking for an underrated
film noir gem—that somehow got swept under the rug—this is it!"
When the film was first released,
Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters...
, film critic for
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
, lambasted the drama, writing, "All the other ingredients, including Miss Russell's famed physique, are pretty much the same as have been tumbled into previous cheesecakes with Jane and Bob...
Macao is a flimflam and no more—a flimflam designed for but one purpose and that is to mesh the two stars. The story itself is pedestrian—a routine and standardized account of a guy getting caught in the middle of a cops-and-robbers thing. And except for some well-placed direction by Josef von Sternberg in a couple of scenes, especially in a "chase" among nets and rowboats, the job is conventional in style...'A fabulous speck on the earth's surface'—that's
Macao, the place and the film."