Contrabbandieri a Macao

Watching this movie, of course we think of those many adventure drama films where exotic atmosphere is mixed up with femmes fatales, tough villains, romance and so on...GILDA, MACAO, CALCUTTA, TANGIERS, ISTAMBUL. THE BIG STEAL...So this time, nothing is surprising, nothing, it is only a Rudolp Maté's film and showing Tony Curtis, still in his early career and in his one of first interesting roles, besides the costume swashbucklers which he used us so much since several years, also for the Universal Studio. Here, he as a real character and not a stupid one. Good worth film noir for gem diggers. Rather hard to purchase.

Tony Curtis goes to Macao. He's after ex-lover Joanne Dru, now a gangster's widow with some information damaging to the current head of the Philadelphia rackets in a safety deposit box. Curtis is being paid by the racketeers to bring her back to the US. When Curtis saves Lyle Bettger from a gun man, Bettger hires him to help out at his gambling place... and then finds out that Miss Dru is the fiancee of Lyle Bettger.

It's a pretty good role for Curtis, but pretty standard stuff for the other two leads. On the other hand, there's a nice role for Victor Sen Yung as the gambling hall's piano player; he seems unusually well connected as the depths of Bettger's actual business is detailed. William Daniel's camerawork is largely standard until the big finish -- although that may be because he established the standard 'MGM gloss' look in the 1920s. Even so, he had a lot to contend with. Director Rudolph Maté had been nominated for five cinematography Oscars himself.

Although you recognize the set-up from "Gilda", it's the same story but in Macao instead of Buenos Aires, with Lyle Bettger for a night club manager without political ambitions instead of the megalomanisc James MacReady, with no Rita Hayworth but instead the much more ordinary Joanne Dru, and with a very young Tony Curtis chasing her to the ends of the earth, you will not be disappointed by this variation. The story is good and almost better than "Gilda", but the major plus of this interesting film is Victor Sen Yung as the pianist factotum, who knows everything and everyone and is a genius. In general, the dialog is thoroughly intelligent and enjoyable in this film. There is not much cinematography, the settings are rather cheap like in a low budget B feature, but nevertheless it is worth watching - especially for the very exotic story with its consistently tightening suspense.

Even leftovers can be tasty. Rudolph Maté's Forbidden is a stir-fry composed of elements from several movies of the previous decade; Casablanca and To Have and Have Not are in the mix, but the dominant flavors are Macao and Gilda (on which Maté served as director of photography). And while there's nothing fresh about it, it staves off hunger for a feast of film noir – at least for a little while.

Tony Curtis comes to Macao, port of intrigue, on a mission: To locate Joanne Dru, widow of a slain Philadelphia gangster, and bring her back to America (she knows too much). Interests in the City of Brotherly Love chose Curtis because he and Dru were once a hot item; nonetheless, they had him followed by another operative (Marvin Miller, probably best remembered as the unseen John Beresford Tipton's secretary on TV's The Millionaire).

On his way into the Lisbon Club, which Dru's known to frequent, Curtis fends off a murderous attack on its owner (Lyle Bettger), who professes indebtedness and takes him back home to meet his fiancée – Dru. Jagged flashes of lightning alert us that the romance has rekindled. The rest of the movie relates Curtis' attempts to wrest Dru away from Bettger (who plays the George Macready role from Gilda).

There's many an expected slip ‘twixt cup and lip, however. Every clandestine conversation draws unseen eavesdroppers, bringing to mind Charlie Chan's sagacious warning: `Two ears for every mouth.' Thoughts of Chan also appear in the person of Victor Sen Yung, his #2 son in many movies, who plays the Dooley Wilson/Hoagy Carmichael role (from Casablanca and To Have and Have Not, respectively) as a piano player at the Lisbon Club who knows his away around the unknown Macao and puts himself at Curtis' disposal. But just when the imperilled couple think they're home-free, Bettger resurfaces with his shark's-maw smile....

Forbidden looks good, as one would expect from Maté, but it keeps a good pace as well (Maté's D.O.A. had to keep up with Edmond O'Brien's speed-walking, but his The Dark Past and Union Station had their longueurs). It breaks no new ground in the noir cycle, but, as a second-feature, it's decent enough.

"Forbidden" (1953) is full of suspenseful twists and turns. Tony Curtis is a small-time hood sent by the mob to Macau to neutralize Joanne, who has incriminating information. Joanne Dru, more familiar in westerns than in film-noir, reminds me of Grace Kelly, perhaps better looking and a better actress as well.

The plot gets really moving after Tony, a mobster, saves businessman Lyle Bettger from some powerful enemies - but then what? There are romantic complications and betrayals. If you prefer yesterday's intriguing plots and snappy dialog to today's overdone special effects, this one is for you.