Review of The Left Hand of God (1955) by Grace-Monday B — 18 Jul 2006

There are tons of things in this world I may never have an appreciation for and Humphrey Bogart is one of them. I just don't understand his appeal. I understand he's suppose to be the epitome of tough yet somewhere a tiny light shines within him that's soft and sensitive. I understand that he wasn't "hot" in the traditional sense. I try my best to understand every facet of his appeal yet keep drawing blanks.

In the Left Hand of God, Humphrey plays Father O'Shea, a Catholic priest who's finally arrived at a mission somewhere in China. Being Humphrey Bogart, he naturally has a gun and within a couple of days ends up punching some Chinese dude.. all in all, not very priestly.

All while this is happening, Gene Tierney's character is developing a big fat unCatholic crush on Father O'Shea. As hot as Gene Tierney is, she looks pained/awkward throughout the movie and her acting is dreadful. She has some nice costumes however, and they keep a decent amount of realism by giving her a limited amount of outfits to wear throughout the movie.

Quite honestly, the best part of the movie are the supporting characters. Agnes Moorehead (Endora from Bewitched) and E.G. Marshall (12 Angry Men) are fantastic as a married couple, Marshall's character a doctor at the mission. As a married couple, they seem so distant yet close throughout the movie that it's almost confusing. During one scene, they're speaking very frankly with each other about the feelings between men and women from an outside perspective, and she asks for a cigarette. Instead of simply handing one to her and lighting it for her, he lights it up himself and hands it to her. I thought that was really cute and weird.

Lee J. Cobb's part is brief and unbelievable. But that could just be because I'm use to him being stark raving mad ala 12 Angry Men.

Though walking into this movie with my bias against Bogart, there are some decent parts. I've seen this movie more times than I care to admit, simply by accident. And if I never saw this movie ever again, it wouldn't be soon enough.

I think if I was a crazy Catholic and didn't live somewhere predominately Asian, I'd show my kids this movie as some sort of family movie night type thing. But since I'm a former Catholic and I AM Asian for goodness sake, I'd pass.

Funniest part: When Bogart used the term "coolies.".