Post by Aj_June on Apr 1, 2019 19:26:59 GMT
Director: Robert Stevenson
Stars: Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, Maylia
IMDB Rating: 7.1/10
My Rating: 7/10 ( I recommend)
Okay, my first impressions are that it is a very unique movie and deserves to be seen by all true classic film lovers. I went ahead expecting to see a noir but by the end of the film, I thought it was closer to being a documentary. It is still a very good film nonetheless. The movie moves from country to country and very closely follows cooperation between various government agencies to unmask an international narcotics smuggling group that is rife with fanatics who kill themselves if they are caught. The degree of detail given to the functioning of government narcotics departments is very in-depth and in my view that makes this movie so special. Although the story is unrealistic to some degree in spite of its semi-documentary style, the movie is pathbreaking in that it led to a revision of Hollywood's production code that had earlier required that filmmakers do not show any kind of illegal drug trafficking. I think Dick Powell (who is almost never disappointing) seems to be the most perfect man for his role. But the movie also has an amazing twist at the ending that I would talk about next.
***Massive Spoilers Ahead*** - Don't even read if you have not seen the film.
I think this film has one of the sweetest faced villains I have ever seen. First off, I was not aware of this actress called Maylia and I had assumed she was a 10-year-old kid or something like that. It turns out that she was 23 years old when the picture was completed and had us fooled all through with her childlike innocence. I actually laughed at myself because she had me fooled completely. I wonder if it was first of kind film that had pulled an ending like that.
