Review of Macao (1952) by Ashley H — 22 Jun 2016

I've always liked this oddball film noir. The film has a great cast with Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Brad Dexter, and one of my favorite actresses, Gloria Grahame. The film was directed by Josef von Sternberg, with some rewrites and part of the film directed by the great Nicholas Ray, although there are conflicting reports as to how much of the film Ray directed.

In any case, the end result is a very fun tale of romance and intrigue involving Mitchum and Bendix in an uneasy alliance to take down crime boss Dexter, while also dealing with a love triangle between Dexter, Russell, and Mitchum.

Behind the scenes, director von Sternberg reportedly clashed with everyone on set, doing things like refusing to allow food on the set, to which Mitchum would bring a large picnic basket to set every day to share.

Grahame also reportedly did not want to be on this picture and wanted producer Howard Hughes to loan her to Paramount to star in "A Place in the Sun," but Hughes refused to release her. Grahame would have been perfect for the role that eventually went to Shelley Winters, so it's a real tragedy Hughes refused to release her.

I'm sure Grahame would have brought a lot more sympathy to the role compared to Winters performance which simply came off as irritating. But back to this film, "Macao" is not as smart as von Sternberg or Ray's best films, but it's a stylishly shot film and quite a bit of fun.

And you also get Russell singing "One for My Baby." Even though this film isn't perfect, it is one that for some reason always sticks in my mind and one I like to every so often revisit.