Macao (1952)

"You know, you remind me of an old Egyptian girlfriend of mine. The Sphinx.", 2 May 2007

Three American's leave Hong Kong headed for Macao. While the three don't know each other, their lives are soon to be intertwined. Macao is essentially run by a gambler and crook named Vincent Halloran (Brad Dexter). He's always on the look out for American cops looking to put the clamp on his operation and take him back to the U.S. to stand trial. Halloran is convinced that one of the new arrivals, Nick Cochran (Robert Mitchum), is his man and wants to get him off the island before Cochran can get the drop on him. Complicating matters is Julie Benson (Jane Russell), who both Cochran and Halloran have a thing for, and Lawrence C. Trumble (William Bendix), a man who seems just a bit too interested in what's going on in Macao.

It's not that Macao is a bad movie, but you can certainly find better. Macao does nothing outstanding or overly memorable that allows it to rise much above the average mark. Take the film's two leads, Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. I thought the pair was pretty good in His Kind of Woman. But here they're basically playing the same roles. It's the same relationship and dialogue all over again. How about something to spice things up a bit? The rest of the movie is similarly uneventful. Brad Dexter's tough guy Halloran isn't that tough. Thomas Gomez's Lt. Sebastian isn't as slimy and underhanded as he might have been. And William Bendix's character is far too easy to see through and figure out his motivations. Like I said, it's not that Macao is bad, it's just not as good as it could or should have been. If you enjoy watching Robert Mitchum play the same role he played dozens of times and if you enjoy watching Jane Russell sing and wear fabulous clothes, Macao might be the movie for you. If you want real excitement, suspense, and drama and the chance to see Mitchum and Russell do something that will "wow" you, you'll be disappointed.

6/10