JohnHowardReid A somewhat disappointing film from the hands of ace director John Farrow (especially when compared with Leslie Fenton's somewhat similar Ladd vehicle, Saigon, made the following year). Of course he was hamstrung by a somewhat indifferent script whose writer was breathing down his neck as producer (although the script has some interesting characters who are particularly well-acted, the plot is wholly predictable and thus almost completely lacking in suspense); and by the casting of Gail Russell in a pivotal role. She is 100% inadequate, and is not too flatteringly photographed either.All the same, Farrow does what he can: the introductory scenes of the film are put across in short snappy takes, but the scene in which Don Beddoe tells Ladd of Cunningham's death is handled very effectively in one long take with the camera almost stationary except for a short pan at the beginning and end of the scene. Other long takes follow - the scene in the morgue, the scene at police headquarters, but there is less reliance on this device than usual, as Miss Russell was unable to retain her lines without the use of an idiot board.The sets are impressive, but they do not come up to the exotic standard of those in Saigon.On the other hand, Miss Duprez does make a fabulous second lead.

rljsmlch Gail Russell too soft, lovely and vulnerable to be the bad girl in this somewhat boring film. Too much dialogue and not enough action. June Duprez underused. Do not get the feeling of being in India. Really just another detective story. Almost no more than one flying sequence. Ladd plays it cool and indifferent with Chinese shop keepers. Ladd in all his sartorial splendor. Ladd a good looking guy when young. Light colored suits worn by Ladd and others give testimony to lack of air conditioning in those days. This is best reference to a very hot Calcutta climate. Man whose murder Ladd is trying to solve is only seen in one or two sequences at beginning of film. Very easy to forget what he looks like for such a good buddy of Ladd and Bendix.

MartinHafer "Calcutta" is a strange sort of film. Although it's set in Calcutta, very little of the movie looks Indian! Heck, you mostly seem to see white folks and Chinese people running about in this weirdo Hollywood version of the place! So, at the outset the film loses a few points and the whole India angle is oddly missing...and incidentally, William Bendix plays a guy named Pedro!Early in the film, two pilots, Neale and Pedro (Alan Ladd and William Bendix) learn that their buddy had been murdered when they were out flying. Both vow to find out who it is and the picture follows Neale in his search. It first lands at the feet of Gail Russell--a girl the dead man was gaga about just before he was killed. They instantly hate each other and Neale doesn't trust her. Inexplicably, later they are in a clinch--which makes no sense in light of Neale's demeanor nor her just losing a boyfriend due to murder. What follows is never particularly interesting. I agree with another reviewer that the film mostly rests on Ladd's shoulders to carry, as the writing and production was otherwise pretty dull stuff. Not a bad movie but in no way would I consider this a good movie either due to the indifferent writing. In many ways, the film is actually a ripoff of the plot from "The Maltese Falcon"....without any of the interesting characters or twists.

Robert J. Maxwell Here we have Alan Ladd investigating the death of a close friend in Calcutta when India was still part of the British Em-Pah. Assisting him are his close pal, fellow pilot William Bendix. The two men fly cargo and passengers over the hump from India to China. That close friend used to be a pilot as well but he discovered some smuggling was going on and was strangled -- in Thugee fashion, with the garrote. The deceased may also have been particeps criminis but it's not clear. The explanation of this twisted tale, when it comes, comes in a torrent and is a little hard to follow.What's not hard to follow is two of the most beautiful women of the movies of 1940, the exotic June Duprez and the girlish and vulnerable Gail Russell. Neither gets the treatment they deserve. Duprez, in love with Ladd, is "a good guy," except when he's casually boffing her. Russell, miscast as a liar and manipulator, acts and sounds as if she'd recently been snatched out of Santa Monica High School, given a few acting lessons, and thrust before the cameras, which she was.There is a scene at the end, when Ladd confronts Russell with evidence of her guilt in the smuggling scheme. They've been more or less attracted to one another and have spent at least one night together. It's a blanched echo of the similar but far more intensely moving scene at the climax of "The Maltese Falcon." Alan Ladd is not Humphrey Bogart and Gail Russell is not treacherous. And in "Falcon," the dialog consists mostly of excerpts from Dashiel Hammet's novel, while here the screenwriter, Seton I. Miller, and the director, John Farrow, have turned it leaden. Ladd slaps Russell around to get her to talk. It's unpleasant.I don't want to make the film sound like a total failure because it's not. A lot depends on individual taste. The Calcutta in which the tale takes place is Hollywood's idea of a foreign city. The "white men" wear uniforms or white suits. A few pith helmets are in evidence. We see one -- count 'em, one -- woman dressed in a sari but there are a plenitude of turbans. The streets are crowded but not full of garbage. The "white people" visit night clubs of a sophistication and decor that would be hard to find in New York City. They wear evening clothes. There are no cockroaches or mosquitoes, though there are one or two mosquito nets. I didn't see any beaded curtains and missed them terribly.The movie is a bit sluggish. As is usual in these dramas, Ladd visits (or is visited by) one colorful character after another, all of their values ambiguous. One stand-out is the fat lady dressed like Mae West who smokes cigars and evidently runs some kind of whorehouse.It's Hollywood craftsmanship. Not at its best, but at its most typical for the period. I rather enjoyed it.