Hong Kong Confidential (1958) User Reviews

Early Bond movie...

[gmda · 6/10 · 16 May 2012]

I just got through watching this. This is a good little spy movie for the time. It seems totally made on sets so it has a "made for TV" feel, but good quality. And I am not sure what to think of Gene Barry's singing for a guy touted as a good singer, and got a scholarship, and won contests, and was in musical shows, etc...he can't seem to sing a lick in this film, OR...that is what he is playing, a BAD LOUNGE SINGER. Which is likely...You can say you have "seen everything" after you see this.

It has many Bond Movie elements, except for looking at his watch while kissing the girl,and 5 years before Dr. No. It has bad girl, good girl. A favorite drink, it seems. An undercover ID. A charming and relaxed manner, especially under pressure. A Lighter type character, a contact agent, but no gadgets, no secretary, just the good girl/bad girl conflict. No cool car...so a low budget prototype, which holds up pretty well. Some pretty good action for what it is.

I liked other movies and shows Mr. Barry was in. Thanks for the entertainment, and R.I.P.

I was entertained.

Gene Barry as a CIA Agent in Hong Kong

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 27 November 2013]

This low-budget, back-lot Cold War thriller casts Gene Barry as American secret agent Casey Reed who masquerades as a lounge singer when he isn't conducting undercover operations for Uncle Sam. The evil Communists have kidnapped the son of an Arab monarch in the fictitious county of Thamen and the NATO agents have only two weeks to find him before the Arabs hand over their tiny state to the Soviets. NATO wants to build a missile base in Thamen, but the Soviets try to thwart this move with the abduction of Prince Abdul. "Jet Attack" director Edward L. Cahn and Oscar-nominated scenarist Orville H. Hampton keep things moving quickly in this inconsequential but atmospheric, nail-biter as Reed heads off to Macao after he misses getting vital information from an Englishman, Dennis Brooks (Brian Roper), who has information about Prince Abdul.

British Secret Service agent John Blanchard (Michael Pate of "Hondo"), contacts Reed's superior, CIA Field Chief Dan Young (King Calder), about Brooks' former girlfriend. Elena Martine (Allison Hayes of "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman") knows a thing or two about smuggling gold. Reed concocts a crazy scheme to smuggle gold into Hong Kong after his accompanist Fay Wells (Beverly Tyler) complains that Casey is running off and leaving her again. Reed assures her that she will one day be able to afford expensive baubles when he figures out his scheme for sure-fire gold smuggling. Reed leaves Fay and heads off to Macao where he manages to track down Elena. Elena and his boss Owen Howard (Noel Drayton) like Casey's idea and decide to test it by having him take $50-thousand dollars worth of genuine gold in fake jewelry to Hong Kong. The night before he takes off for Hong Kong, Casey sneaks into the warehouse where Howard's office is located and discovers a medallion with palm trees on it.

Immediately, he suspects that Howard and Elena may have something to do with the disappearance of Prince Abdul. The villains observe Casey meeting Blanchard at Customs and witness the passage of the medallion. They nab Blanchard before he can turn the information over to the local authorities. Inevitably, to test Casey and determine if he is an American CIA agent, Howard offers him the opportunity to kill Blanchard. The valiant British agent surprises everybody and makes a break before Casey can kill him. As it turns out, the clock is ticking down to the final minutes when the Arab monarch will sign an agreement with the Soviets to do as they wish in his country. Howard decides to kill the young Prince as well as Casey and frame the Americans for kidnapping the monarch's son. Predictably, Casey overpowers Elena when he offers to light her cigarette and the tiny country of Thamen is saved from enslaved by the Soviets.

This qualifies as a rainy day thriller that will like the potboiler that it is keep you distracted throughout its 68 minute running time. Barry is fine as the secret agent, but the nightclub act is dubious. The rest of the cast perform well in small roles.

Adequate programmer

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 19 February 2014]

It's Gene Barry vs. the Commies in this workmanlike programmer that merits one watch, but no more. Barry even gets to sing, twice; you may feel free to fast forward through those parts. Allison Hayes has a small role as a gold-smuggling villainess and she is a real knockout - I would place her in Jane Russell's league, and that is a compliment indeed. There is a voice-over narration running throughout "Hong Kong Confidential", and it often states things that we already know; nonetheless, it gives the film a nice matter-of-factness, plus the narrator has a great voice. The ending is a little rushed, but on the whole this is an adequate second-feature. **1/2 out of 4.

Hong Kong never looked so bad

[bensonmum2 · 4/10 · 28 July 2019]

The Quick Pitch: A secret agent stationed in Hong Kong must locate a kidnapped prince.

If Hong Kong Confidential were an episode of a television program (something like Danger Man for example), I might have rated it higher. But as a "movie", it's really lacking. The direction is flat. There's nothing here to elevate the movie beyond anything you could find on 1958 TV. Everything is so obviously filmed on a soundstage. Nothing looks real or authentic. Cheap doesn't begin to describe it. Throw in poor lighting, a predictable script, and a bombastic, in-your-face narration and the result is a pretty poor movie.

I will, however, give Hong Kong Confidential one big bonus point on the use of Asians in the Asian roles. I don't think I noticed one "white" face playing an Asian. That's not something you usually found in 1958.

I've never been much of a Gene Barry fan and this movie changes none of that. He just seems out of his depth and unbelievable. And his lounge singer schtick is laugh-out-loud funny. I can't imagine an audience anywhere, let alone some bar in Hong Kong, enjoying his brand of bad singing and hysterical dancing. Too funny!

4/10

ALLISON HAYES & NOT MUCH ELSE...OK...GENE BARRY CROONS UNDERCOVER & UNDERWHELMS

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 13 August 2021]

Stiff Secret-Agent Stuff.

Gene Barry as a Suave Govt. Agent whose "Cover" is a Lounge-Singer Act with How-Come She is 2nd Billed Beverly Tyler at the Piano.

Compared to Her Female Co-Star, She is a Non-Entity, Vacant, and Pretty Bad as the "Good" Girl.

Prolific Director of Low-Budget Fodder, Edward Cahn is at the Helm in this Small-Room, Back-Alley, Claustrophobic Cold-War, "Red-Scare" Propaganda Programmer.

This One Includes an Arab Connection as a Young "Prince" is Kidnapped by the Ruskies for Leverage.

Allison Hayes in Clam-Diggers and Yielding a Hand-Gun in a Low-Cut Dress is a High-Light.

The Espionage Angle is Non-Existent, but there is a lot of Cigarettes, Drinks, and Double-Crosses, that Except for a Murder Dangles and Goes Nowhere.

Barry Seems to have Lost His Early Award Winning Singing and Stage Talent.

As His Awkward Self Entertains On-Screen Audiences with His Lacking Charisma Crooning.

But as a Spy He does OK,

if Failing to Make any Impression that would Consider Him as "James Bond" 4 Years Later.

With Low-Expectations it's...

Worth a Watch.

Gene Barry is a BAD lounge singing spy....

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 20 February 2017]

"Hong Kong Confidential" is a product of the Cold War era. The plot is all about Soviet attempts to destabilize a country by kidnapping a young prince and forcing his father to sign a peace treaty with them...or the kid will die! While this seems like a dopey plot, the Soviets DID involve themselves in many assassinations and arrests in order to force free countries into the communist bloc. Sadly, however, the film itself is very pedestrian and ordinary.

Gene Barry plays a special secret American agent. He's carefully created the persona of a devil-may-care guy who will do practically anything for money...and he's a successful lounge singer. This part is pretty funny, as Barry's singing is god-awful to the point where it must have elicited a few laughs in the theaters! He follows clues which take him to the prince...but this may not matter very much, as the kidnappers welcome him...and plan on killing him and making him appear to have been one of the kidnappers!

Ordinary in every way (at best). Okay acting, okay direction and an okay plot...this film is clearly mediocre and mostly what I could consider a time passer.

For Lounge Singing Spy Fans Only.

[Henchman_Number1 · 4/10 · 6 April 2022]

A crown prince from a small Arab nation is kidnapped by Communists in order to stop the installation of an American missile base within the kingdom. The Commies have sequestered the kidnapped prince in an unknown location. Acting on intelligence information that indicates the prince is being held in the area of Hong Kong, the US calls on their Far East operative Casey Reed (Gene Barry) who works under the guise of a shady nightclub singer. After an informant is killed outside of his club Reed works on a tip to infiltrate a gold smuggling operation by ingratiating himself with a Macao syndicate to to smuggle gold from Hong Kong to mainland China disguised as cheap trinkets in order to locate the prince.

Confused by the plot? Me too and we aren't the only ones because it appears after splicing the scenes together it was decided to do voice over narration with just about every scene to explain what we just watched. Apparently director Edward Cahn, who cut his teeth in the business as a film editor, couldn't fit the pieces together without the grating narration. The entire film is set bound and was shot at KTTV studios sound stage as well some scenes shot in their basement so the overall quality is about like a one hour television program of the time, if that.

Things were going along pretty well for Gene Barry about this time. He had recently worked on a couple of Sam Fuller written and directed productions. Finished up 'Thunder Road' with Robert Mitchum and had signed on to do the 'Bat Masterson' TV series which first aired at the same time Hong Kong Confidential' premiered. So it's hard to figure why Barry would sign on for this 2nd feature cheapie. No matter. It wasn't a career killer for Barry.

The film though not well made is modestly entertaining though sometimes in unintended ways. In two unintentionally hilarious scenes, Cahn decided to have Barry perform a couple of truly awkward lounge tunes. The fact that Cahn left these in the final cut as well as the aforementioned added narration, tells us that the notoriously parsimonious Cahn was going to go kicking and screaming before he spent another nickle on this film.

As a point of interest, co-star, iconic 1950's mainstay Allision Hayes, would go on to work in multiple Bat Masterson episodes with Barry in the recurring role of Ellie Winters.

Gene Barry as lounge-singing cold-war spy!

[django-1 · 8/10 · 19 August 2002]

Those who like hard-boiled cold-war spy films, especially those made on a super-low budget, should love this 1958 classic, which features Gene Barry as a US intelligence agent whose "cover" is that of a mediocre lounge singer! Barry's character is intentionally smarmy and funny, and he contrasts well with the hard-boiled spy action, set is backlot versions of Hong Kong and Macao, with a lot of tight shots of characters standing in front of Asian-looking signs and sections of buildings, often only six or eight feet wide. And of course, an alley is an alley and a warehouse is a warehouse, whether it be in Macao or Atlanta. Put a few Asian details in a dark alley, have a few Asian characters, and voila, you've got a film set in the Orient! Like many 1950s spy/crime films, this features a hard-boiled dragnet-esque narration telling you things you just observed on the screen. Still, they don't make films like this anymore, and clearly the filmmakers (and Mr. Barry, who is brilliant in the part!)were "in on the joke" so HONG KONG CONFIDENTIAL should appeal to fans of films such as RED ZONE CUBA, ROCKET ATTACK USA, INVASION USA, and OPERATION CIA. As always, director Edward Cahn is a master of pacing. I don't think this has ever been released on video, but check it out the next time it plays on TCM.