FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Micransix Crappy film

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

jacobs-greenwood Directed by John Huston, though finished by Vincent Sherman when Huston was called into war service, with a screenplay by Richard Macaulay that was based on a story by Robert Carson (or Garson, depending upon the source), this war adventure attempted to recapture the magic that director Huston shared with three of its leads in the previous year's The Maltese Falcon (1941).In this one, Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Leland (in his next film, he would play his most famous Rick; Blaine in Casablanca (1942)), Mary Astor plays Alberta Marlow, and Sydney Greenstreet plays Dr. Lorenz. All three are involved in an intrigue that couldn't have been more timely, a Japanese attempt to blow up the Panama Canal (the original story involved Pearl Harbor, hence the film's incongruent title, which actually was attacked during the production). It captures the style, if not the substance, of the earlier film.Artilleryman Leland is bucked out the service just before his country would be forced in World War II, a curious time to dishonorably discharged; John Hamilton plays the court-martial president. It's a ruse by the U.S. Military Intelligence intended to draw enemy spies to the ex-soldier, who may be able to provide information they need. Leland goes through the motions of attempting to enlist in the Canadian army before he boards a ship headed to the Orient where he hopes to serve China and Chiang Kai-shek against Japan. He meets, and is curiously attracted to Alberta, but their would-be romance has a rough start (she gets seasick; later, she gets sunburned). Leland also meets, and is befriended by, some other passengers: Dr. Lorenz and Joe Totsuiko (Sen Young). After sharing drinks and pretending to be both intoxicated and willing to part with certain strategic details for a price, Leland learns that Dr. Lorenz is a buyer of just this type of information; he's working for the Japanese.There's plenty of intrigue, and a lot of it's confusing (intentional or otherwise). Rick's not sure if Alberta has any connection to his dealings with Lorenz, or whether to trust her - at first she wants to help him, but later she disappears. Once the ship from New York reaches Panama, the plot thickens. Charles Halton plays A. V. Smith, Rick's go-between who gives the ex-soldier a schedule of air patrols to reel in Lorenz. Lee Tung Foo plays a friend of Rick's, a Panamanian hotel proprietor, that assists Rick. Plus, the usual suspects in these war pictures, Richard Loo and Keye Luke, also play roles (as does Philip Ahn, though uncredited). Smith is killed, Rick is knocked out, and eventually everything leads to a plantation where it is learned that Dan Morton (Monte Blue) is being held. Alberta is Morton's daughter, and both were being played by Lorenz. Naturally, Rick recovers, saves the day and the Panama Canal.

LeonLouisRicci Entertaining Studio Wartime Production with Major Stars Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, and Mary Astor Reunited with Director John Huston. Fresh off the Commercial and Critical Success of the "Maltese Falcon" (1941), this one looks Hurried and the Back Lot is Forever in the Foreground lending it a Stiff and Stagey look.It's got a Prefabricated Appearance throughout and the Thing comes off as Contrived and Unconvincing. It is Professional but wholly Predictable. The Film will Never get Mentioned as Bogart or Huston's Best as the Film is Basically just a Hurried A-List Product of it's Time.The Setting was Supposed to be Pearl Harbor but was Changed because it seemed too Close for Good Taste. There was Hope for a "Maltese Falcon" Sequel but the Studio Neglected to Get the Rights to the Characters. This Mediocrity was the Substitute. There are some Interesting Scenes and the Cast Works Well together, but the Movie, all things Considered, is just a Rush Job of Competence. Worth a Watch for the Participants and a Peek at WWII Movie Making just getting Started. The Rules were being Made Up as They Go and it Shows. Nowhere Near the Best for Anyone in Front of or Behind the Camera and Hardly even a Great Propaganda Piece. A Curio-so for Film Students and Historians.Note...Mary Astor's hairstyle is one of those curiosities and one wonders who thought it attractive.

JohnHowardReid Bogey's immediately pre-Casablanca movie re-unites him with his co- stars Astor and Greenstreet and his writer/director of The Maltese Falcon, John Huston. Yes, Huston revised the script as he shot, though he did not receive a credit. This created problems when he was drafted near the end of shooting and Vincent Sherman took over. No join is visible in the film fortunately, due to the polished cinematography of Arthur Edeson (also from The Maltese Falcon) who was to join Bogey on Casablanca. Although the script doesn't measure up to Maltese Falcon standards, it's entertaining enough if not taken too critically and provides some wonderful opportunities for star turns by Bogey, Astor, Greenstreet and a wonderful support cast of delightful oriental off-beats led by Victor Sen Yung as a cheery thug, Chester Gan as the philosophical ship's captain ("It is the Japanese way. If you praise our sons, we say they are unworthy"), Lee Tung Foo as a friendly hotel proprietor and Monte Blue as a silent sot. And, of course, no Oriental-type movie would be complete without Philip Ahn. Here his role is memorable but brief. (That's a curious film we see in the cinema, incidentally. Obviously a Japanese silent movie, though dubbed dialogue on the sound track is designed to give us the impression it's a sound film). Produced on an expansive budget, the film is a marvelous example of Huston's feeling for visual atmosphere. Edeson's low-key film noir lighting is a major asset here, as is Adolph Deutsch's skillful score. The sets are appealingly created too, especially the wharf set with its chugging train and the menacing bulk of the Genoa Maru. In short, Across the Pacific is a very agreeable piece of entertainment indeed. It has quite a lot going for it, especially in the acting, atmospheric and artistic departments. If its entertainment total is less than the sum of its parts, blame the Second World War!

rboyter Most of the cast of The Maltese Falcon is reunited with John Huston and, sadly, a very awkward, dull script attempting to be topical about the Japanese plotting against the US. Mary Astor is terrific and much freer to play an attractive character and flirt with Bogey who is as amusing as the script lets him be (which is not very). Sydney Greenstreet is gloriously oily and sinister as always. The trouble is the script which just isn't up to much either in originality or in good dialogue. Don't get me wrong, I own the movie, but I watch it only about every 5 years or so whereas The Maltese Falcon is a once a year treat, sometimes more often.