Across the Pacific (1942)

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Richard Macaulay (screenplay)
Robert Carson (serial)

Release Date:

5 September 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

Rick Leland makes no secret of the fact he has no loyalty to his home country after he is court-marshaled...

Plot Keywords:

Panama | Japanese | Panama Canal | Passenger | Movie Screen

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Rick Leland
Mary Astor	...	Alberta Marlow
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Dr. Lorenz
Charles Halton	...	A.V. Smith
Victor Sen Yung	...	Joe Totsuiko (as Sen Young)
Roland Got	...	Sugi
Lee Tung Foo	...	Sam Wing On
Frank Wilcox	...	Captain Morrison
Paul Stanton	...	Colonel Hart
Lester Matthews	...	Canadian Major
John Hamilton	...	Court-Martial President
Tom Stevenson	...	Unidentified Man
Roland Drew	...	Captain Harkness
Monte Blue	...	Dan Morton
Chester Gan	...	Captain Higoto

Also Known As:

Aloha Means Goodbye (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8248)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The last-minute screenplay change from Pearl Harbor to the Panama Canal was not implausible. Until the mid 1930s US military exercises concentrated on defending the Panama Canal from air, amphibious & small craft attack and were extensively covered by the press.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rick is using the machine gun, the end of the ammunition belt is clearly visible as he is firing. When he stands up a second later, the belt goes all the way to the ground.

Quotes:

Alberta Marlow: We were discussing Philippine economics when we were so rudely interrupted.
Dr. Lorenz: My own field! Miss Marlowe was kind enough to listen to me.
Rick Leland: They're going to be free in 1946, aren't they?
Dr. Lorenz: They are - provided America does not insist on fighting a war with Japan. It's my opinion that that contingency is going to keep the Philippines from being free.
Alberta Marlow: Won't Japan gobble them up?
Rick Leland: No offense, but Japan or Canada or anybody else can have the Philippines as far as I'm concerned. It's hot in Manila!
Dr. Lorenz: Might even be hotter before long.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hold Your Breath and Cross Your Fingers: The Story of 'Dark Passage' (2003) (V)

A Strange Title Since It's Set In The Atlantic, But A Nice Spy Caper

A good spy caper starring Humphrey Bogart as Rick Leland, a court-martialled US Army officer who finds himself in the middle of a nifty little bit of espionage work on board a Japanese freighter bound from Halifax to Yokohama via the Panama Canal just before the attack on Pearl Harbour. Surrounded by a rather suspicious group of characters, from his love interest Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor) to Dr. Lorenz (Sydney Greenstreet), Leland slowly uncovers a Japanese plot to attack the Canal Zone (presumably also on December 7) and sets himself to preventing it.

This was a good performance by Bogart, along with good performances from Astor and Greenstreet. (For those not entirely familiar with Canadian geography, by the way, the pun is that Alberta claims to be from Medicine Hat, which is a small city in Alberta - almost TOO cute!) There's a fair amount of tension throughout as we struggle along with Leland to figure out exactly what's going on, and a nice climax as Leland foils the Japanese plan (Bogey had to win!)

A couple of things I thought were worth noting, though. First of all, what's with the title? All the action in the movie takes place either on the Japanese freighter as it travels south down the ATLANTIC coast of North America or in the Panama Canal Zone (with some minor scenes in Halifax, where Leland is rejected by the Canadian Army, and in New York City, where he snoops for information.) The only Pacific connection to the movie is that the freighter was Japanese. And remember, of course, that this was made in 1942 (after Pearl Harbour.) The depiction of the Japanese isn't especially flattering (although I thought it was more a play on stereotypes than openly antagonistic), and the closing shot of the film is the wartime requisite showing off of American military strength.

All in all, though, I enjoyed this movie immensely, and would highly recommend it.

8/10