Aventura en oriente

Gable and Rosalind Russell play a couple of jewel thieves who meet in ..... well, guess where, and keep running into each other thereafter.

It's a fairly formulaic film carried on the charms of the leads; director Clarence Brown can't overcome the MGM gloss to provide the screwball details that the first half of the film really needs, although Peter Lorre as a shady and unctuous tramp steamer captain is a lot of fun.

I have the feeling Miss Russell replaced Myrna Loy at some stage in the production and the first couple of reels show damage. Clarence Brown directs the comedy bits for everyone but the two leads, a telling indictment of his opinion of their chops. Even worse, William H. Daniel's high-lit camerawork makes Miss Russell look a trifle jowly.

Plot: a jewel thief and a con artist are rivals in the theft of a valuable gem as the Japanese army invades China. Much more glamorous and romantic were Arsène Lupin or the jewel thieves with plenty of class, style and pizzazz in ¨Raffles,¨"Trouble in Paradise," and "Grand Hotel,"

It was great to see another little remembered Gable film made before he went off to war. When he was paired with Rosalind Russell in "China Seas", they met in Hong Hong and traveled by ship to Singapore. Here, they meet in Bombay and travel by ship to Hong Kong, under quite different circumstances, as fugitive jewel thieves. In general form, this film reminds me of the later "The Big Steal", a chase thriller-screwball romantic comedy combo in an exotic locale, involving a man and woman, unknown to each other, looking for the same thing. Toward the end, it turns into a forerunner of "The Great Imposter", with Gable successfully fooling the British Hong Kong garrison into believing he is a British officer, who happens to be passing through. This gets him into more hot water than he bargained for, as the Japanese invade Hong Kong(as they actually did less than a year later!). Peter Lorre doesn't fool anyone as the supposedly Chinese captain of the ship taking the thieves to Hong Kong. This is mostly Gable's film. Sometimes, I wondered if I was looking at a deglamourized Heddy Lamarr instead of Rosalind Russell. All in all, an entertaining, if silly, romp, with Gable still looking in peak form and seeming to enjoy himself.

Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell team up in "They Met in Bombay," a 1941 film also starring Peter Lorre. The two are both thieves, both with their eye on a valuable necklace, when they meet - she posing as aristocracy, he posing as a detective. They end up on the lam and in love.

The fun part of this film takes place later on when Gable, trying to come up with an escape plan for the two of them, gets a uniform and poses as a soldier.

Unfortunately, a situation arises and a superior officer grabs him off the street for special duty. He's then in a very difficult position indeed.

It's fun to watch the two stars together. MGM didn't always know what to do with Russell's strong beauty - in "Trouble for Two" she is extremely Garboesque - here, her hairstyle and makeup are pure Hedy Lamar. Either way, she looks great and gives a nice performance as a woman in love in spite of herself.

Gable is charming and plays it dead serious, which makes his war duties even more bizarre, as he's totally believable. Peter Lorre is on hand for a touch of the sinister.

The script could have been stronger to support these two stars and a good story. Nevertheless, it's good, breezy entertainment.

Gerald Meldrick (Clark Gable) is a wanted jewel thief. He arrives in Bombay to steal the Star of Asia from the Duchess of Beltravers. Unbeknownst to him, con woman Anya Von Duren (Rosalind Russell) has the same idea. The two thieves quickly figure each other out. They compete and end up together. After both stealing the gem at different times, they escape the authorities on board Captain Chang (Peter Lorre)'s ship to Hong Kong. They arrive with war looming over the horizon.

The first half is a fun little screw-ball caper. I like both Gable and Russell having fun with the characters and each other. It's loads of fun in a light affair. The movie eventually turns into war movie and it's not always the best. Gable and Russell get separated in a large middle section. Gable's con is a bit fun until the war breaks out. The action, the vehicles, and the gears are not the most realistic. It's also wartime in the real world and a bit of war propaganda is to be expected. This is a good pairing and one can excuse any flaws for the greater cause. The mix of a real war and light comedy is just a bit awkward.