There are many reasons I write about movies. Sometimes it’s the plot, back story, or cinematography, with Macao, it’s the cast. It’s hard to imagine a more noirish group than Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez, Gloria Grahame, and Brad Dexter.

What’s not to love about this pairing of frenemies Mitchum and Bendix?

Macao was made in 1950 and tinkered with by mad studio head Howard Hughes for 2 years, which explains why the glorious GG had a smallish part. It was filmed before her breakthrough roles in In A Lonely Place and The Bad and the Beautiful but released after them.

The exotic setting is another attraction. Macao is an island peninsula on the south China coast. It was a Portuguese colony from 1557-1999.  It was known for its nightlife and casinos, hence the attraction to filmmakers in the 1950’s. It was the Vegas of Asia, baby. Additionally, exotic international locations were in. If Casablanca could be a hit Warner Brothers, why not Macao for RKO? FYI, it’s now spelled Macau.

The plot is relatively simple. Mitchum’s character is wanted by the law, so is casino operator and diamond smuggler Brad Dexter. William Bendix plays an undercover NYPD detective out to get Dexter, and Thomas Gomez plays a corrupt colonial copper who’s protecting him. Jane Russell’s arrival in Macao gets the action rolling. The story climaxes on the docks with Mitchum taking Dexter down after escaping an attempt on his life:

How noir are those shadows? Everyone in Macao is a shady character, which is reflected by Harry Wild’s cinematography and Josef von Sternberg’s direction. The director was fired for his high-handed ways. Macao was finished by Nicholas Ray who was then married to Grahame.

The best thing about the movie is the chemistry between Mitchum and Russell. Their banter is to die for: the dynamic duo improvised much of the snappy patter that gives the movie its charm.

The script was by Bernard Schoenfeld, Stanley Rubin, and 6 uncredited writers, which usually leads to a crap movie but not in this case.

Grading Time: I give Macao 3 stars and an Adrastos grade of B. It’s a minor classic with a major cast including a black cat:

Before moving on to the posters, a picture of Russell and Gomez I couldn’t fit in the first act of the post:

How sinister is that image? The posters aren’t as sinister but they try. Here’s a side-by-side image of the American and Italian posters:

The quad is loaded with text. I’m not sure what I think of the tagline. Seems spotty to me.

Before going to the lobby, a number by Jane Russell:

How noir is that song title? Now that Jane Russell has killed it, let’s make like zombies and wander off to the lobby.

There’s nothing as refreshing as a Zombie second-line with, uh, refreshments followed by lobby cards.

That’s some major stink eye aimed at Grahame by veteran villain Brad Dexter. Let’s train our eyes on the trailer:

The last word goes to Eddie Muller’s Noir Alley intro and outro.

Eagle-eyed viewers surely noticed Claire Trevor in the first video freeze frame. It wasn’t done to make Kitty Claire Trevor happy, but Eddie *is* a cat person.