Nick Cochran, an American in exile in Macao, has a chance to restore his name by helping capture an international crime lord. Undercover, can he mislead the bad guys and still woo the attractive singer/petty crook, Julie Benson?
Acting
Russell's deadpan delivery outshines everyone including Mitchum.
Costume
Her dresses deserved their own billing and probably got it.
Direction
Von Sternberg's visual flair fights Nicholas Ray's reshoots to a draw.
Director
Josef von Sternberg
Robert Mitchum
Nick Cochran
Jane Russell
Julie Benson
William Bendix
Lawrence C. Trumble
Thomas Gomez
Lt. Sebastian
Gloria Grahame
Margie
Brad Dexter
Vincent Halloran
Edward Ashley
Martin Stewart
Philip Ahn
Itzumi
Vladimir Sokoloff
Kwan Sum Tang
Rico Alaniz
Bus Driver (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette
Alvaris (uncredited)
George Blagoi
Casino Patron (uncredited)
Truman Bradley
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Von Sternberg was fired mid-production; Nicholas Ray directed uncredited reshoots that gutted the original vision. What survives is a Frankenstein of competing sensibilities.
Hollywood's 'exotic Macao' was pure RKO backlot fantasy—the real Portuguese colony was nowhere near this Technicolor dreamscape. The film peddles Orientalism so shameless it circles back to camp.
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