Strange and sometimes beautiful sets are populated with the unlikeliest of actors in some terrible miscasting to create a nearly surreal melodrama about a Chinese gambling house. Victor Mature in particular is simply wrong for the role of Dr. Omar, a Lothario and probable opium dealer with clumsy designs on the luminous and lovely, but wildly-overacting, Gene Tierney as well as a loudmouthed blonde tramp.
The alluring Mother Gin Sling runs the casino with the strangest methods ever, extending credit to suicidal patrons and spoiled society girls with no credentials. She's threatened with eviction by the new lawman but has a clever plan to stay in business (murder? no: a dinner party). The direction is ham-fisted; the editing choppy; and the story is a melange of noir and crime pulp that meanders from character to character with no discernible protagonist.
Be prepared for hilarious speakee-Chinee racism and some camp 1940s slang. You'll have to read between the lines of the Hays Code for the sex and drugs, but where else will you ever find girls hoisted in cages for Chinese sailors to bid on? ("You understand, of course, this is staged purely for the tourists.") What's frustrating is that, with better direction, this could have been a clever and nasty romp. Phyllis Brooks is a peach, but the loudmouthed broad act is stretched thin. Oregonian Ona Munson is about as Chinese as Portland cement. Characters guffaw for no reason. Long stretches go by with awkward pauses. The music is used sparingly and only to bludgeon. Firecrackers substitute for a score for about 30 minutes of the film.
If you're interested in the genre of Manchu crime pulp melodrama, it's worth a look. But if you're looking for a bit of high-quality 1940s escapism, look elsewhere.
The alluring Mother Gin Sling runs the casino with the strangest methods ever, extending credit to suicidal patrons and spoiled society girls with no credentials. She's threatened with eviction by the new lawman but has a clever plan to stay in business (murder? no: a dinner party). The direction is ham-fisted; the editing choppy; and the story is a melange of noir and crime pulp that meanders from character to character with no discernible protagonist.
Be prepared for hilarious speakee-Chinee racism and some camp 1940s slang. You'll have to read between the lines of the Hays Code for the sex and drugs, but where else will you ever find girls hoisted in cages for Chinese sailors to bid on? ("You understand, of course, this is staged purely for the tourists.") What's frustrating is that, with better direction, this could have been a clever and nasty romp. Phyllis Brooks is a peach, but the loudmouthed broad act is stretched thin. Oregonian Ona Munson is about as Chinese as Portland cement. Characters guffaw for no reason. Long stretches go by with awkward pauses. The music is used sparingly and only to bludgeon. Firecrackers substitute for a score for about 30 minutes of the film.
If you're interested in the genre of Manchu crime pulp melodrama, it's worth a look. But if you're looking for a bit of high-quality 1940s escapism, look elsewhere.