Macao (1952)

A sultry night club singer, a man who has also traveled to many exotic ports and a salesman meet aboard ship on the 45-mile trip from Hong Kong to Macao. The singer is quickly hired by an ... See full summary »

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Bernard C. Schoenfeld (screenplay), Stanley Rubin (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Mitchum	...	Nick Cochran
Jane Russell	...	Julie Benson
William Bendix	...	Lawrence C. Trumble
Thomas Gomez	...	Police Lt. Sebastian
Gloria Grahame	...	Margie
Brad Dexter	...	Vincent Halloran
Edward Ashley	...	Martin Stewart
Philip Ahn	...	Itzumi
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Kwan Sum Tang
Don Zelaya	...	Gimpy - Piano Player

Storyline

A sultry night club singer, a man who has also traveled to many exotic ports and a salesman meet aboard ship on the 45-mile trip from Hong Kong to Macao. The singer is quickly hired by an American expatriate who runs the biggest casino in Macao and has a thriving business in converting hot jewels into cash. Her new boss thinks one of her traveling companions is a cop. One is -- but not the one the boss suspects.

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Plot Keywords:

macao | singer | hong kong | salesman | club | 

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Taglines:

DANGEROUS PARADISE! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Film-Noir | Adventure

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese Japanese

Release Date:

30 April 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Den laglösa ön

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Howard Hughes fired director Josef von Sternberg about a third of the way through and shot the rest with Nicholas Ray.

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Goofs

Whenever Julie Benson (Jane Russell) sings in the gambling den, The piano and bass guitar accompaniment don't match the sound of the full orchestra backing her up.

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Quotes

Nick Cochran: My fatal charm. Never misses - except with women.

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Connections

Featured in Private Screenings: Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell (1996)

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Soundtracks

"You Kill Me"
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Sung by Jane Russell

User Reviews

Spicy, Short and Sweet Noir

Macao is entertaining and moves quickly (but ends too soon). Mitchum plays his typical laid-back, fearless, charming, unmotivated protagonist. The treat of this movie is seeing Jane Russell sling her one-liners, sing two low octave blues numbers, and saunter around the set. I think she and Mitchum hit it off just fine. The sets and camera work are first rate, but the plot could have used some more development. Since I have to add four more lines for submittal, let me add that the Chinese band was novel (I'm not sure if they were really playing, but it looked like it, and they were having a good time). Also, the blind man sure got around, and I'm glad he didn't turn out to be faking blindness.