Title: PLEASING POPCORN PICTURE
Product review: "Macao" is the film noir for those who think all film noir is gloomy and deprerssing. Yes, Mitchum sleepwalks through his "Bob, Son of Bogie" role as an American adventurer kicking around the mysterious Orient. Jane Russell gets to look fetching and sing a few songs but this one is basically a light workout for all concerned. Lacking the comedic flair of its predecessor "His Kind of Woman!", "Macao" sort of works as a not-terribly-serious manhunt drama. I suppose the fun for hardcore cineastes is trying to figure out where Josef von Sternberg's work leaves off and Nicholas Ray's patch-up job begins. Strangely enough, it all works just fine and what might have been a mess becomes a commendable '50s adventure/thriller that happens to reside "in the vicinity of" film noir.
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