CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb. Color by DeLuxe. Produced by Buddy Adler. Copyright 1955 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 27 May 1955. U.S. release: June 1955. U.K. release: 24 October 1955. Australian release: 29 March 1956, Sydney opening at the Regent. 8,603 feet. 95½ minutes.
SYNOPSIS: In search of her missing photographer husband, Jane Hoyt (Susan Hayward) arrives in Hong Kong and learns at the U.S. Consulate that her mission is futile, that neither the United States nor the British government can help her. She feels that she must try nevertheless, and registers at a hotel that services a conglomeration of businessmen, servicemen, entertainers, and ne'er- do-wells from all over the world.
Jane gets in touch with Inspector Merryweather (Michael Rennie), of the local marine police, who, although unable to help her officially, promises to do all he can for her on his own. He asks her to identify two cameras that the police had picked up from a junk captain at the harbor. She confirms that they belonged to her husband. Merryweather then suggests that she inquire at a place called "Tweedie's". Jane is about to be thrown out of Tweedie's when Rene Chevalier (Alex D'Arcy) joins her at the table as if she were waiting for him. He tells her that he knew her husband and had seen him one night with Fernand Rocha (Mel Welles) and a girl named Maxine Chan (Frances Fong). With nothing more than this information she contacts Maxine, who leads her to Hank Lee (Clark Gable), of whom Merryweather had warned her.
COMMENT: Although it took good money on the strength of its Hong Kong in CinemaScope background and its starring twosome, "Soldier of Fortune" is a rather ordinary tale with inconsistently motivated Mills and Boon principals forced into a combination pulp novel romance and comic strip adventure. In this latter connection, keen movie buffs will notice some remarkable similarities between "Soldier of Fortune" and Milton Caniff's "Terry and the Pirates" — especially as regards some of the bizarre background characters which give the movie some welcome jolts of interest, thanks to the efforts of players like Anna Sten (the former Goldwyn leading lady of the 1930s), Tom Tully, Russell Collins and other assorted misogynist bar habitues.
OTHER VIEWS: Another early CinemaScope film in which the accent is firmly on the CinemaScope scenery (this time the travelogue cameras focus on Hong Kong) rather than the juvenile dialogue, stock characters and "Boys Own Paper" plot. Critics are usually tempted to say at this point that the players do their best — but they don't really. If they'd had a grain of sense they would have played it all tongue-in-cheek; but no, they're perfectly serious about the whole puerile business. Dmytryk's flat-footed direction matches the pedestrian plot.
The appearance of Anna Sten in a minor role is some compensation for movie buffs, but otherwise the whole film, aside from the scenery and the lushly romantic music score is a very ordinary, very tepid and very dated anti-Chinese Communist tract. - JHR writing as George Addison.
SYNOPSIS: In search of her missing photographer husband, Jane Hoyt (Susan Hayward) arrives in Hong Kong and learns at the U.S. Consulate that her mission is futile, that neither the United States nor the British government can help her. She feels that she must try nevertheless, and registers at a hotel that services a conglomeration of businessmen, servicemen, entertainers, and ne'er- do-wells from all over the world.
Jane gets in touch with Inspector Merryweather (Michael Rennie), of the local marine police, who, although unable to help her officially, promises to do all he can for her on his own. He asks her to identify two cameras that the police had picked up from a junk captain at the harbor. She confirms that they belonged to her husband. Merryweather then suggests that she inquire at a place called "Tweedie's". Jane is about to be thrown out of Tweedie's when Rene Chevalier (Alex D'Arcy) joins her at the table as if she were waiting for him. He tells her that he knew her husband and had seen him one night with Fernand Rocha (Mel Welles) and a girl named Maxine Chan (Frances Fong). With nothing more than this information she contacts Maxine, who leads her to Hank Lee (Clark Gable), of whom Merryweather had warned her.
COMMENT: Although it took good money on the strength of its Hong Kong in CinemaScope background and its starring twosome, "Soldier of Fortune" is a rather ordinary tale with inconsistently motivated Mills and Boon principals forced into a combination pulp novel romance and comic strip adventure. In this latter connection, keen movie buffs will notice some remarkable similarities between "Soldier of Fortune" and Milton Caniff's "Terry and the Pirates" — especially as regards some of the bizarre background characters which give the movie some welcome jolts of interest, thanks to the efforts of players like Anna Sten (the former Goldwyn leading lady of the 1930s), Tom Tully, Russell Collins and other assorted misogynist bar habitues.
OTHER VIEWS: Another early CinemaScope film in which the accent is firmly on the CinemaScope scenery (this time the travelogue cameras focus on Hong Kong) rather than the juvenile dialogue, stock characters and "Boys Own Paper" plot. Critics are usually tempted to say at this point that the players do their best — but they don't really. If they'd had a grain of sense they would have played it all tongue-in-cheek; but no, they're perfectly serious about the whole puerile business. Dmytryk's flat-footed direction matches the pedestrian plot.
The appearance of Anna Sten in a minor role is some compensation for movie buffs, but otherwise the whole film, aside from the scenery and the lushly romantic music score is a very ordinary, very tepid and very dated anti-Chinese Communist tract. - JHR writing as George Addison.