Robert Mitchum creates the kind of calm and cool character here that you want to have around when there is danger, people are behaving like scum, and you'd still like the promise of a passionate embrace.
He plays down-on-his-luck professional gambler Dan Milner, who gets strong-armed into taking a mysterious job in Mexico, which, if he doesn't play his cards right, could leave him dead on the beach.
Mitchum's got sizzling chemistry here with sexily dressed Lenore Brent -- "She's beautiful," Milner opines -- "that's ALWAYS interesting," played by the beyond-statuesque Jane Russell, who has found herself at the Baja resort with actor Mark Cardigan (played by Vincent "Who's happily married? Very probably no one" Price), who seems more interested in shooting ducks than giving his lady some love. Thus, she strays to Milner's side. And the banter between them delights.
"Fools get away with the impossible," Milner coos to Lenore in the moonlight. "That's because they're the only ones who try," she purrs back.
The outwardly cocky but insecure Lenore wonders where she stands with Milner, who kisses her passionately only to go all aloof on her. "Were you in love with me last night?" she asks. "But tonight you're not. I guess that's the way I affect people" -- to which Milner replies, "It's just that you affect the wrong people." (Ms. Russell's inner doubts will resonate with many.) Lenore dreams of running away to someplace new -- until Milner brings her back to reality: "You're not going to find anything but yourself." Ain't it true!
Along the way we see that Milner isn't above being a cheat, but only in the service of helping others. He's downright paternal toward a young honeymooner (played by Leslie Banning, Ms. Russell's real-life sister-in law), whose husband is gambling over his head. "What's wrong?" Milner asks her. "It might help to talk about it...I have a problem, too. Maybe we can help each other."
The dialogue in this awkwardly titled film is one of the movie's strengths. Yet the production itself is extremely uneven and doesn't seem to know what it is -- film noir, romantic comedy, farce, or something else. Its first half is rather classic noir, as we observe an unflappable and world-weary Milner get sucked into a shadowy gambit that does not bode well.
Later, he gets smuggled onto a ship commanded by arch-criminal Nick Ferraro (Raymond Burr), whose thugs set about torturing Milner so cruelly that this reviewer found it impossible to watch. Then comes the campy third act, in which actor Cardigan becomes a swashbuckling hero in real life. I found the movie's last act of the film to be overstuffed and tedious.
However, a final scene in which a freshly showered Milner shares a glass of champagne with glittering Lenore is indeed triumphant.
Mitchum was a screen treasure who seemed to have it all -- an incredible mug, a most masculine screen presence, and acting chops to pull it all together. It's striking to read in his Wikipedia biography that he remained married to the mother of his children for decades.
He plays down-on-his-luck professional gambler Dan Milner, who gets strong-armed into taking a mysterious job in Mexico, which, if he doesn't play his cards right, could leave him dead on the beach.
Mitchum's got sizzling chemistry here with sexily dressed Lenore Brent -- "She's beautiful," Milner opines -- "that's ALWAYS interesting," played by the beyond-statuesque Jane Russell, who has found herself at the Baja resort with actor Mark Cardigan (played by Vincent "Who's happily married? Very probably no one" Price), who seems more interested in shooting ducks than giving his lady some love. Thus, she strays to Milner's side. And the banter between them delights.
"Fools get away with the impossible," Milner coos to Lenore in the moonlight. "That's because they're the only ones who try," she purrs back.
The outwardly cocky but insecure Lenore wonders where she stands with Milner, who kisses her passionately only to go all aloof on her. "Were you in love with me last night?" she asks. "But tonight you're not. I guess that's the way I affect people" -- to which Milner replies, "It's just that you affect the wrong people." (Ms. Russell's inner doubts will resonate with many.) Lenore dreams of running away to someplace new -- until Milner brings her back to reality: "You're not going to find anything but yourself." Ain't it true!
Along the way we see that Milner isn't above being a cheat, but only in the service of helping others. He's downright paternal toward a young honeymooner (played by Leslie Banning, Ms. Russell's real-life sister-in law), whose husband is gambling over his head. "What's wrong?" Milner asks her. "It might help to talk about it...I have a problem, too. Maybe we can help each other."
The dialogue in this awkwardly titled film is one of the movie's strengths. Yet the production itself is extremely uneven and doesn't seem to know what it is -- film noir, romantic comedy, farce, or something else. Its first half is rather classic noir, as we observe an unflappable and world-weary Milner get sucked into a shadowy gambit that does not bode well.
Later, he gets smuggled onto a ship commanded by arch-criminal Nick Ferraro (Raymond Burr), whose thugs set about torturing Milner so cruelly that this reviewer found it impossible to watch. Then comes the campy third act, in which actor Cardigan becomes a swashbuckling hero in real life. I found the movie's last act of the film to be overstuffed and tedious.
However, a final scene in which a freshly showered Milner shares a glass of champagne with glittering Lenore is indeed triumphant.
Mitchum was a screen treasure who seemed to have it all -- an incredible mug, a most masculine screen presence, and acting chops to pull it all together. It's striking to read in his Wikipedia biography that he remained married to the mother of his children for decades.