Calcutta

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.

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.

Neale Gordon (Alan Ladd), Pedro Blake (William Bendix), and Bill Cunningham are fellow pilots flying the mountain route between Chungking and Calcutta. Bill is newly engaged to Virginia Moore (Gail Russell) and gets murdered. His friends start digging.

This has a bit of exoticism. It has Alan Ladd. It has some noirish elements. Virginia should be played like the damsel in distress or even a femme fatale, but Gail Russell can only play her like a neighbor's wife. I also don't like her description of the relationship with Bill which cuts it down at the knees. For the exotic element, they are using too many Chinese people. It's supposed to be Calcutta after all. There is some good turns and Alan Ladd is playing up the noir. Mainly, I would like Gail to change her performance.

Gail Russell too soft, lovely and vulnerable to be the bad girl in this somewhat boring film. Too much dialogue and not enough action. June Duprez underused. Do not get the feeling of being in India. Really just another detective story. Almost no more than one flying sequence. Ladd plays it cool and indifferent with Chinese shop keepers. Ladd in all his sartorial splendor. Ladd a good looking guy when young. Light colored suits worn by Ladd and others give testimony to lack of air conditioning in those days. This is best reference to a very hot Calcutta climate. Man whose murder Ladd is trying to solve is only seen in one or two sequences at beginning of film. Very easy to forget what he looks like for such a good buddy of Ladd and Bendix.

It's the stars that make this film watchable: Alan Ladd and Gail Russell.

The story is OK but these days with all the brilliant crime/mystery movies and series on TV and cable, "Calcutta" comes across as pretty lightweight.

A couple of pilots, Neale Gordon and Pedro Blake played by Alan Ladd and William Bendix, who fly cargo over the mountains between Burma and India just after WW2, investigate the murder of fellow pilot Bill Cunningham.

Neale Gordon is suspicious of the motives of women young and old, but falls for his dead friend's fiancé, Virginia Moore (Gail Russell), while keeping his former romantic interest, Marina Tanev (June Duprez), on hold. After a lot of punching and some surprising slapping around of Miss Moore, things get sorted out.

The film was set in a fairly convincing backlot Calcutta, but it could have been set just about anywhere. The strongest influence on the film seems to be "The Maltese Falcon", especially the ending. In fact, Edith King as Jewellery dealer Mrs King is somewhat of a Sydney Greenstreet character.

I must admit I am still an Alan Ladd fan dating from many a Saturday matinée back in the 1950s. He had a quiet confidence that projected strength, and although this film is a bit blah, he carries the picture. Apparently he was one of the genuine nice guys and loyal; more than a couple of people always got work on his films, but he was also a tragic figure - gone too early aged 50.

But there is an even more tragic star in this film, Gail Russell, who died aged only 36. This was fairly early in her career and critics at the time thought she was miscast. However that sense of hesitancy and innocence was fine for the role even though her performance was pieced together from short takes; she was so nervous she could hardly get her lines out. In a recent biography by Steven Glenn Ochoa, "Fallen Star", he tells how she had a nervous habit of ringing her hands, which directors tried to stop, but it's obvious in one of her early scenes in the film. Ladd was very good with her on set but not everyone was like that in her career.

It's these two charismatic stars and their unique screen presence that still makes "Calcutta" worth a look.