His Kind of Woman (1951)

A deported gangster's plan to re-enter the USA involves skulduggery at a Mexican resort, and gambler Dan Milner is caught in the middle.

Directors:

John Farrow, Richard Fleischer (uncredited)

Writers:

Frank Fenton, Jack Leonard

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Mitchum	...	Dan Milner
Jane Russell	...	Lenore Brent
Vincent Price	...	Mark Cardigan
Tim Holt	...	Bill Lusk
Charles McGraw	...	Thompson / Narrator
Marjorie Reynolds	...	Helen Cardigan
Raymond Burr	...	Nick Ferraro
Leslie Banning	...	Jennie Stone (as Leslye Banning)
Jim Backus	...	Myron Winton
Philip Van Zandt	...	Jose Morro
John Mylong	...	Martin Krafft
Carleton G. Young	...	Gerald Hobson

Storyline

Nick Ferraro, deported crime boss, needs to re-enter the USA. His plan involves "honest" gambler Dan Milner, who's subjected to a series of "misfortunes," then bribed to take a trip to Mexico. En route, Dan meets chanteuse Lenore Brent, truly his kind of woman. But on arrival at posh Morros Lodge in Baja California, Dan finds the ostensibly rich, carefree guests all playing roles...except, possibly, ham actor Mark Cardigan. What does Ferraro want with him? Can he trust anyone?

---

Plot Keywords:

tucson arizona | tourist resort | murder | husband wife relationship | undercover cop | 

---

Taglines:

They were two of a kind ! ...and bound to meet, but neither of them knew what such a meeting would mean!

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Italian

Release Date:

21 November 1951 (Congo)

Also Known As:

Smiler with a Gun

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Howard Hughes' whimsical decision to shoot the boat sinking scene with Vincent Price cost him $150,000.

---

Goofs

When Thompson's two henchman are trying to outflank Cardigan, the grey haired henchman, who is wearing light coloured trousers, runs from the left of the shot and passes behind a rock. However, the man who emerges from behind the rock, and is immediately shot by Cardigan, has dark hair and is wearing dark trousers.

---

Quotes

Martin Krafft: American language I know well, but the use to which Americans put it, I'm not always able to understand.

---

Connections

Featured in American Grindhouse (2010)

---

Soundtracks

You'll Know
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Harold Adamson
Performed by Jane Russell

User Reviews

What Plans They Have For Robert Mitchum

In Lee Server's biography about Robert Mitchum the recounting of the making of His Kind of Woman could actually be the basis of an interesting film itself.

Jane Russell of course was the personal creation of Howard Hughes and when Hughes bought RKO Studio, Robert Mitchum was his number one male star. It was only natural that Hughes seek to team them and in fact they do go well together.

But Howard Hughes filmed this thing essentially three times with three different actors playing villain Nick Ferraro a Hollywoodized version of Lucky Luciano. First it was Howard Petrie, then Robert Wilkie, and finally Raymond Burr before Hughes got a Ferraro he liked.

Besides that the original film had few laughs in it and Hughes did get a good streak of inspiration when he hired Vincent Price as the film was being re-shot for the second time and integrated scenes with him into the plot. Price plays a Hollywood swashbuckling movie star, shades of Errol Flynn, who really steals the film from both stars. It's a part that calls for Price to overact outrageously and he does so. His Kind of Woman is worth seeing for him alone.

The basic story has drifter/gambler Robert Mitchum being persuaded with money and other less gentle means to go to a resort located in Baja, California. Of course who's ultimately hired him is our gangster villain Burr and let us say that His Kind of Woman may have been the inspiration for Faces Off with John Travolta and Nicholas Cage a few years ago.

Tim Holt makes a brief appearance here as a Federal cop who warns Mitchum of what is in store for him and gets killed for his trouble. Holt was starring in B westerns for RKO and occasionally doing other film appearances like this one. When he went to war back in the mid Forties, RKO looked around for another replacement to be its B western hero and Mitchum got his first big break and his first starring role. But irony of ironies, Mitchum moved on to bigger and better things and Holt kept grinding out B films that were good, but way beneath his talent.

Other assorted familiar movie faces like Charles McGraw, Marjorie Reynolds, Jim Backus, and Alberto Morin are in His Kind of Woman and give it a comfortable feel.

His Kind of Woman is one of the great noir films ever done, even if it had to be shot over and over to get it right by Mr. Hughes's lights.