Soldier of Fortune (1955)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Ernest K. Gann (novel)
Ernest K. Gann (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 May 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Communist | Beautiful Woman | Smuggling | Husband Wife Relationship | Chinese

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Hank Lee
Susan Hayward	...	Mrs. Jane Hoyt
Michael Rennie	...	Inspector Merryweather, Hong Kong Marine Police
Gene Barry	...	Louis Hoyt
Alexander D'Arcy	...	Rene Dupont Chevalier (as Alex D'Arcy)
Tom Tully	...	Tweedie, Owner of Tweedie's Bar
Anna Sten	...	Madame Dupree
Russell Collins	...	Icky, Piano Player
Leo Gordon	...	Big Matt
Richard Loo	...	General Po Lin
Soo Yong	...	Dak Lai
Frank Tang	...	Capt. Ying Fai (Chicago)
Jack Kruschen	...	Austin Stoker, Lee's assistant
Mel Welles	...	Fernand Rocha

Runtime:

96 min | 92 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (optical prints) (Western Electric Recording) | 4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved (certificate #17243) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:T | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~10.1 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~10.6 seconds.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The sound of a cable car bell can be heard on Gable's recording of Chicago.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Proof of Life (2000)

Soundtrack:

Rum and Coca Cola

Rhett in China

Even toward the end of his marvelous career, Clark Gable's screen persona of the charming, irresistible bounder was untarnished. Unhappy with the roles MGM was giving him, he did not renew his contract. "Soldier of Fortune," which Gable subsequently did for 20th Century Fox, is a big budget, good-looking movie with big stars, none of which can hide the fact that it's a routine story that John Hodiak could have done in black and white in 1950 and probably did.

Susan Hayward plays a woman who arrives in Hong Kong to look for her photographer husband (Gene Barry) who has slipped into China illegally. She runs into of a bunch of sleazy characters and finally meets Henry Lee (Gable), a soldier of fortune with money and contacts. He's an older version of Rhett Butler - out for himself but capable of goodness as well. He falls hard for Hayward and becomes more determined than ever to find her husband so he doesn't have to compete with a ghost. With two such attractive stars, it's obvious what's going to happen.

The stars and the supporting cast - Michael Rennie, Tom Tully, Anna Sten et al - are all very good. It's a beautifully photographed film that undoubtedly looked great on the big screen with its Technicolor panoramas of Hong Kong, but alas, it's not very exciting. Gable looks fantastic and immaculate in his white suit, his smile as dimpled and his voice as gruff as ever, and Hayward, not the warmest actress who ever lived, is excellent as a concerned and confused woman. They work very well together.

It's hard to say the movie is not worth seeing because as excellent as some of our actors are today, there are no Gables. There was only one - and checking him out is always worthwhile.