L'aventure commence à Bombay

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.

I don't think I have ever seen Clark Gable in a bad movie, or with a sub par performance and this 1941 black and white film is no exception. Gable maintains his swagger throughout as Gerald Meldrick, a con man with a quick wit and an endless supply of phony names and costumes, but he is eventually positively influenced by his new romantic partner in crime Anya Von Duren (Rosalind Russell) and he finds himself outmatched when it comes down to the crunch to continue living a life of crime always on the move at a moments notice to avoid the authorities, or to do the right thing and fight for his country.

The film has a bit of romance, a bit of comedy, a bit of a con job and a lot of charm.

I give it a highly respectable 8 out of 10 IMDB rating. It is the type of film that is over before you want it to be finished. It is quite entertaining even some eight (80) years later. I must be an old soul because I just love these TCM movies.

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.

Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell had worked twice together before. Russell was a supporting player in two of Gable's previous films, China Seas and Forsaking All Others. But in They Met in Bombay they make a bright pair of competing and then cooperating thieves.

Bombay is in fact where they do meet, both of them working individually on a caper to steal a really big diamond belonging to inebriated Dutchess, Jessie Ralph. When they discover who each really is, there's some antagonism, but the police chasing them forces some cooperation which becomes more and more willing as the film progresses.

The pair eventually arrive in Hong Kong and I dare not say more, but some of Gable's con games involve him something far bigger than he can handle as the plot takes some unbelievable turns.

Gable and Russell worked well together, it's a pity that this was their only teaming on the big screen. Look also for good performances by Peter Lorre as the sly Chinese freighter captain and Reginald Owen as the British General and Matthew Boulton as the frustrated British police inspector. Also if you look fast you'll see Alan Ladd in a minute part as a British soldier in a scene with Gable while the leads are in Hong Kong.

They Met in Bombay is fast paced and very funny and still holds up remarkably well today.