On M List of Movie Reviews

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Macao (1952)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 2/24

Maca
2/24: Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell did two films together: His Kind of Woman and Macao.

After seeing the first, I went for the second. Wow, it's a bad movie and a complete change of scenery at that despite the outstanding intro. The filmmakers tried to make it seem like the stars were in Macao, but they actually never were. It's just a lot of fake background stuff with the rest done on a sound stage in Hollywood. The oft-reliable Gloria Grahame is wasted in the process. Being able to wear a different fancy dress daily, Jane Russell sure has a lot of room in her luggage.

The only positive thing out of this mess is the pairing of Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, but they were far better in His Kind of Woman which had a good script and a noir-like setting to begin with. It didn't hurt one bit when Vincent Price ultimately stole the show. Sadly, Macao has none of them. The production was troubled from the start because of director Joseph von Sternberg who was eventually replaced by Nicolas Ray which went for naught anyway.

All in all, His Kind of Woman is a must-see for fans of Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell while Macao can be safely skipped.