To the Ends of the Earth (1948)

After witnessing an incident on a foreign ship off California coast, a U.S. Treasury agent aboard a Coast Guard vessel decides to further investigate the matter by following a crime trail leading to China, Egypt, Lebanon and Cuba.

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Jay Richard Kennedy (original story), Jay Richard Kennedy (screenplay)

Stars:

Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, Maylia

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dick Powell	...	Commissioner Michael Barrows
Signe Hasso	...	Ann Grant
Maylia	...	Shu Pan Wu
Ludwig Donath	...	Nicholas Sokim
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Commissioner Lum Chi Chow
Edgar Barrier	...	Grieg
John Hoyt	...	George C. Shannon
Marcel Journet	...	Commissioner Lariesier
Luis Van Rooten	...	Commissioner Alberto Berado
Fritz Leiber	...	Binda Sha
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry J. Anslinger	...	Commissioner H.J. Anslinger

Storyline

Based on the files of the United States Department of Treasury. Commissioner Michael Barrows is an American Government Agent. On board a Coast Gaurd boat off the California coast he chases a ship. The Captain of the ship, the Kira Maru, panics and ruthlessly sends 100 Chinese slaves to a watery death. Barrows recovers a live preserver that tells him the ship is out of Shanghai. He travels there to track down the ship's captain and discovers that these deaths point to a huge drug smuggling operation. In Shanghai, while searching for the captain of the Kira Maru, he becomes suspicious of a women, Ann Grant, believing she's Jean Hawks the narcotics ringleader. He follows the narcotics trail "to the ends of the Earth" taking him from Shanghai to Cairo, Beirut and Havana to stop the drugs and the jean Hawks ring at the US border.

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Plot Keywords:

1930s | year 1935 | shanghai | ship | narcotics | 

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Taglines:

This is necessarily a story of violence, intrigue...and death. If portions of it shock you, remember it is based on actual incidents from hitherto secret files of the U.S. Treasury and its Bureaus of Narcotics, Customs and Coast Guard.

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 February 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Twenty Seventh Day

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Harbor, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kennedy-Buckman Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 23, 1949 with Dick Powell and Signe Hasso reprising their film roles.

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Connections

Referenced in Grass (1999)

User Reviews

Terrific international intrigue film with Dick Powell in top form

A fun, serial-like adventure movie which presages "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and that harkens back to a time when the world seemed like a bigger and more mysterious place. Dick Powell is the quintessential tough guy who also loves his rose garden. Excellent twist ending.

Strangely neglected film, probably because its view of the international drug trade seems rather quaint by today's standards. Still, a wonderful time capsule that reminds us of such forgotten history as Japan's wartime domination of China and the crumbling colonial empires of England and France in the Middle East. Also, the slave trade theme continues (sadly) to resonate, given the recent headlines about Chinese workers being smuggled into the States as sweatshop laborers.