seymourblack-1 In the chaos that followed the end of World War 11, places that fell outside the jurisdiction of international law became havens for all sorts of mysterious travellers such as, fugitives from justice, displaced persons and of course, the types of criminals who could best exploit these locations for their own purposes. The Portuguese colony of Macao, which lay to the south of Hong Kong, was one of these places and provides the setting for this movie in which adventure, romance and mistaken identities feature strongly.After recently having been involved in the murder of an undercover cop from New York City, local crime boss Vincent Halloran (Brad Dexter) expects another undercover officer to arrive in Macao to carry on where his predecessor left off. When a steamer from Hong Kong arrives at the port, corrupt police Lieutenant Sebastian (Thomas Gomez), who's on Halloran's payroll, watches with interest while three Americans have their entry documents checked. The three people in question are, Nick Cochran (Robert Mitchum), an ex-serviceman with no passport, out-of-work nightclub singer Julie Benson (Jane Russell) and travelling salesman, Lawrence C Trumble (William Bendix). Sebastian allows Nick Cochran to enter Macao despite not having a passport and reports back to Halloran about the new arrivals and his belief that Nick is the undercover detective that they've been expecting.Nick and Julie had struck up a certain rapport after having met on the steamer and so Halloran hires Julie as a singer for his casino with the intention of using her to find out more about Nick. Halloran also offers Nick money to leave Macao but he's more interested in staying to develop his relationship with Julie. The jovial Lawrence Trumble deals in a diverse range of items including nylon stockings, fertiliser and coconut oil and one day offers Nick $10,000 to sell a stolen diamond necklace to Halloran. After Halloran sees a diamond taken from the necklace, he agrees to travel to Hong Kong to complete the deal even though doing so would mean travelling through international waters where he would run the risk of being arrested.Halloran, who recognises that the necklace is one that he'd previously stolen, has Nick kidnapped. Nick then escapes with the assistance of Halloran's girlfriend Margie (Gloria Grahame) who's very bitter about Halloran's obvious attraction to Julie and a series of further complications then follow before Halloran's decision to travel to Hong Kong leads to the story's exciting conclusion.Many of the characters in "Macao" are disloyal and very readily betray any trust placed in them. Some examples involve Halloran who's disloyal to his mistress (Margie) who reciprocates by transferring her loyalty to Nick. Lieutenant Sebastian has no integrity at all and his loyalty is always ready to be transferred to the highest bidder. Similarly, Julie, who was broke when she left Hong Kong, used her looks to sucker a sleazy stranger into sponsoring her trip to Macao, but then when the arrangement started to become uncomfortable dumped him with the help of Nick, who she rewarded by stealing his money and throwing his passport and wallet into the sea!! Treachery on this scale is probably no surprise in a location that's a magnet for people who want to escape their pasts or enjoy unregulated gambling but what's more unexpected is the rather playful tone of the whole movie where banter, wisecracks and witticisms are the norm. Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell both excel in their roles but are unquestionably at their most effective and charismatic in their scenes together. Brad Dexter, Gloria Grahame and William Bendix also do well in their important supporting roles.

Michael_Elliott Macao (1952)** (out of 4) Extremely disappointing noir about an American criminal (Robert Mitchum) on the run in Macao and the woman (Jane Russell) he meets on the boat. Along with another man (William Bendix) the three find themselves in a place that appears to be ran by a gambling hall owner (Brad Dexter) but no one is as they appear. From what I've read von Sternberg was fired towards the end of filming and it's obvious he wasn't overly thrilled with the material. In fact, I'd say everyone involved wasn't thrilled with the material because this is a pretty flat film that has very little going for it. Had I directed this then it wouldn't have been too bad but when you consider the talent involved one can't help but feel this is a major disappointment. I think the biggest problem is the screenplay, which is pretty bland and really doesn't have anything in it to make it stand out from the countless other genre films out at the time. We're introduced to the four main characters but none of them are very interesting. We learn that they're all running from something and we learn that none of them are who we think they are. There's a constant game going on with us trying to figure out who the cop is but in the end it doesn't matter because everything here is boring. Another problem is the cast who appear bored out of their minds. It seems the only effort is for Mitchum to act tough, Russell to look sexy and Bendix to throw in some comic relief. The screenplay really doesn't give the characters anything more to do than that but none of it works. Mitchum appears out of touch with everything going on and Russell doesn't add anything outside her looks. Bendix gets a couple funny moments but the majority of the time he isn't on screen. Dexter is a pretty bland bad guy but Gloria Grahame does a fine job in her small role. von Sternberg's direction is nearly impossible to see as he puts very little effort into the film. There's not a single sequence that you could point at and say some sort of effort went into it. There's no romance, no drama, no suspense and very little of anything else.

Terrell-4 With noirs, good acting is the head on the mug of beer. Strictly speaking, it's not needed for enjoyment, but a beer is more satisfying with the foam on. That brings up Jane Russell. In Macao, she looks mighty fine with all that Howard Hughes-directed attention given to how she was photographed and what she wore. Not speaking, she's every inch a femme fatale. Speaking, she's just every other inch. That straightforward all-American diction (she was born in Minnesota) gets in the way of the noir illusion. She simply isn't a seducer of sweating insurance salesmen or dumb Swedes. She's a great pal to share a life and a bed with, a woman with a nice sense of pleasant irony. There just isn't much steam generated between her and Robert Mitchum. Rita Hayworth, on the other hand, would have set Mitchum's laid back toes to smoldering. There's a lot of inside discussion about von Sternberg and this movie...all that talk about arches in the casino and beaded curtains everywhere else. Personally, I think if you didn't know the gossip you'd never suspect von Sternberg had anything to do with Macao. The movie is just a better-than-average mystery with hints of noirish charm. The story is straightforward and unexceptional. The photography is first-rate. Whatever Nicholas Ray had to do to pull the pieces together when Howard Hughes fired von Sternberg after most of the movie had been shot, Ray did efficiently. What makes Macao interesting today is one more opportunity to watch Robert Mitchum be the coolest guy around. The downside is that Gloria Graham is wasted...and, contrary to quotes and gossip, she doesn't overact for a minute. The story? Three strangers arrive at Macao on the ferry from Hong Kong. There's Julie Benson (Jane Russell), a down-on-her-luck singer with a chip on her shoulder. She needs a job. There's Nick Cochrane, a down-on-his-luck drifter who can't return to the States. And there's Lawrence C. Trumble (William Bendix), a small-time businessman who deals in "coconut oil, pearl buttons, fertilizer and nylon hose." Within hours Benson and Cochrane are dealing with Vincent Halloran (Brad Dexter), owner of one of the biggest casinos in Macao, The Quick Reward. He hires Julie to be a singer in the casino and tries to convince Cochrane to get on the next ferry back to Hong Kong. Seems Halloran is wanted bad by the New York cops, but no one can touch him as long as he stays in Macao and within the three-mile territorial limit. Halloran thinks Cochrane is an undercover cop trying to trick him out of his lair. And what role does Trumble play in all this...it has to involve more than the pair of nylons he gave Julie on the ferry. Observing all this, leaning against a wall or a piano, looking through curtains and poking her nose into things she shouldn't, is Margie (Gloria Grahame), dice girl at the casino and Halloran's squeeze. She seems to love the guy. As the story plays out there will be knives in the back, chases through Macao's darkened docks and across boats, a romantic slow ride in a sampan, and diamonds. One drawback is that Howard Hughes gave Russell plenty of opportunities to sing in his movie. She has three songs. The story slows appreciably to make time for her carefully photographed songbirding. Russell has a nice voice and does no harm except to the Arlen-Mercer classic, "One for My Baby." She has no feel for the blues and sounds as out-of-touch with the song's emotions as Doris Day would have.

ccthemovieman-1 I'm still waiting to discover a good movie in which Jane Russell starred. I haven't seen one yet. If you know of one, let me know. Best as I can tell, Howard Hughes tried to make her a star for two reasons: her breasts. It couldn't have been for her acting ability or that her presence would enhance a quality film. Those just didn't happen. Her films were a bust (pun intended.)You would think it would be almost impossible to shoot a boring film that also included Robert Mitchum, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez and Gloria Grahame....but here it is! The screen time of Bendix and Grahame are woefully small, otherwise this might have been more interesting. The other (lead) characters in this movie are simply not people you care about.The fault of this movie, in addition to unlikeable lead characters, is that it simply isn't entertaining. It's dull, folks, almost as drab as it gets. What a shame. It sure didn't have to be with that cast. Mitchum and Bendix were fun to watch in "The Big Steal," but the only steal in this film is your money to buy or rent this movie. I love film noir, and I liked the exotic setting in here, but this story is so bad I hate to even classify it in that genre (noir). Director Josef Von Sternberg was at the end of his career....and it shows. In fact, he didn't finish this movie. They had to call in Nicholas Ray to do that. This film, in a way, was a poor man's "Morocco," I say "poor man" because Jane Russell was no Marlene Dietrich and "Macao" is no "Morocco."The only saving grace is that the running time is short. You only have to suffer for 81 minutes. I wouldn't even recommend that.