Kalkutta

"Calcutta" was one of Alan Ladd's most successful movies of the 1940s (even out-grossing "The Blue Dahlia") and is a fun combination of film noir and adventure. Alan Ladd and Gail Russell made a beautiful couple, and I was sorry that they made only two co-starring vehicles together.

Some critics resented the fact that Gail Russell was the villainness of the story, but I have to disagree. It added irony at the end, and debunked the type-casting limitations so many stars of that period had to suffer through. She was a real beauty! As well, the supporting cast is excellent, in particular Broadway's Edith King. Without a doubt, this is a typical Alan Ladd "star vehicle" of the period -- to be enjoyed for what it is (a fun "Terry and the Pirates" type vehicle), and not to be over-analyzed.

Three buddies, who are commercial pilots based in Calcutta, regularly fly cargo across the Himalayas between India and China. When one of them is murdered, the other two set out to find the killer. Beginning with a suspicious bank deposit and a carved diamond pendant, the pair uncover the victim's mysterious fiancé, a suitcase full of jewels, and another murder. Set in an exotic location on Paramount Studio's back lot, director John Farrow's "Calcutta" looks fabulous and has a competent cast, but the story is little more than a routine whodunnit, highlighted by John F. Seitz's rich black-and-white cinematography. Despite a few colorful supporting characters along the way, the plot develops without surprises, and viewers will guess the villain and the outcome long before the hero does.

Not the most expressive of actors, Alan Ladd plays Alan Ladd in the guise of Neale Gordon, the pilot who investigates the murder of his friend; Gordon, who is already involved with a Russian singer, becomes intrigued by his buddy's fiancé, played by Gail Russell. Gail Russell is not all that expressive either, and Pedro Blake, the third pilot, is William Bendix as William Bendix. Fortunately, the parts are undemanding, and the emphasis is on action and unraveling the plot.

Nominated for seven Academy Awards over his career, Seitz lensed such classics as "Sunset Boulevard," " The Lost Weekend," and "Double Indemnity." Seitz made movie stars glow like movie stars, and, in this film, he lavished his attention on Alan Ladd's blonde good looks and, to a lesser extent, on Gail Russell's dark beauty. Ladd even whips off his shirt to give audiences a look at his trim abs, although he radiates his handsome best while dressed in a white dinner jacket. Fans of Alan Ladd will relish "Calcutta" and savor the opportunity to freeze-frame several glamor shots of the star that are literally breath taking. While the film is not bad, just predictable, "Calcutta" is passably entertaining and a sturdy vehicle for Paramount's reigning star of the 1940's, Alan Ladd.

Calcutta is far from Alan Ladd's finest hour on the silver screen (nor director John Farrow's, for that matter). His trademark contempt for women and his android-like affect prove unappealing and tedious when not undercut by plausible psychology or fleshed-out co-stars. Here he has nothing but a murky Asian hodgepodge of noir cliches to wade through, the inevitable William Bendix at his side (and, this time, on his side). Trying to solve the murder of a fellow trunk-line pilot working the route from India to China, he drifts from hotel to casino to airfield encountering a rogues' gallery of grotesques. Edith King, as a stogie-puffing Baby Jane Hudson, promises more than she delivers; Gail Russell, the black widow of the piece, is kind of like Mary Astor to three parts water. This is one film from the noir cycle whose obscurity gives little cause for regret.

Routine mystery suffers from Ladd's seeming indifference to his character in the lead and Gail Russell's unsuitability for her role. Add into that the fact that they share almost no rapport on screen and it hurts the picture. Gail, a lovely actress whose looks had not been destroyed by her extreme alcoholism at this point, is too gentle a presence to be convincing as the sort of femme fatale that was Ladd's frequent partner, Veronica Lake's stock in trade. The best performance comes from supporting player Edith King, in her screen debut, as the shady but very fun Mrs. Smith who though it's never stated outright is obviously the local madame as well as involved in other shady doings. The picture comes to life whenever she enters the scene. It's a pity her role isn't larger. Otherwise this is a standard actioner, which despite the title could have been set anywhere since it's mostly set indoors, that the studios pumped out weekly to keep product in the theatres during the Golden Age.

When William Bendix plays a man named Pedro, you know there's a problem.

It's post-war. Neale (Alan Ladd) and Pedro (the aforementioned Bendix) have taken the opportunity to fly cargo from Chungking to Calcutta, and the reverse. They have to go over the Himalayas. The money is good.

Sadly, they learn that their friend Bill, who was about to be married, has been murdered in Calcutta. They are determined to find out who did it.

Neale visits his fiance (Gail Russell) and wonders how it is that she is wearing an $8,000 necklace. The two spar, and she throws him out. Neale then learns that Bill had a lot of money in the bank. Could he have been involved in smuggling?

I saw a video of this where the sound was very fuzzy. For me Gail Russell threw this film way off kilter. Consider that Calcutta was made in 1945 and not released until 1947. That means that it was made one year after Russell's debut in "The Uninvited."

This is a different woman. Her alcoholism is already affecting her. She is a nervous wreck and soft spoken, demonstrating not much of a character or personality. Also, as one of the stars of the film, she's hardly in the movie. I do not think originally it was intended to be that way.

There is a big performance by Edith King, who may know something about what happened to Bill, and probably does run a brothel. June Duprez is on hand as a beautiful club singer who has an on-again, off-again relationship with Neale.

I love Alan Ladd - handsome, tough, a strong presence in films, and I enjoy watching him no matter the movie. William Bendix is always wonderful.

However, there's not much of a story and as far as Calcutta - I maybe saw one Indian. Hollywood's idea of a foreign country was to put white people in white suits and leave it at that. Also, given what was going on in India at the time, it's never mentioned in the film.

One bit of trivia - in Calcutta, as in Saigon, the plane Ladd is flying loses its right engine. As a result, cargo has to be dumped from the plane to lighten the load. Identical situation. And always the right engine.