This is a movie that should not have worked for me. I have never been a big fan of director John Farrow and the principal cast didn't impress me very much. Macho types like Robert Mitchum always seem to be trying to prove something. I never thought Jane Russell was all that sexy - too intimating for me. Vincent Price, and other super sophisticates like Hurd Hatfield and Zachary Scott just bored me.
The plot is complicated. A deported gangster wants to get back into the USA. He devises this scheme to lure Robert Mitchum to a Mexican resort in order to kidnap him, adopt his identity with the help of his gang of cutthroats and a crooked ex-Nazi plastic surgeon, and dispose of him. The feds get wind of the scheme and wise the hero up. Vincent Price plays a ham actor who, after being a fake all his life, decides to get real and try to rescue him. Russell is a round heels who was making a play for the big time with Price only to fall in love with Robert Mitchum. There are flaws in this movie. There is something illogical in torturing Mitchum to get him to cooperate in his own destruction. The idea of spending eternity trying to inject a drug into him that will make him forget seems like an extreme waste of time when they could have just as easily cut his throat or strangled him. But all that aside:
Watching Vincent Price recite lines from his movies as he launches his rescue mission, shoots the bad guys, and generally plays the hero is something not to be missed. There are even references to some of Hollywood folklore. He quotes the line attributed to one of the moguls (Sam Goldwyn or Harry Cohn I think): "If you want to send a message, call Western Union". There may not be a message in this movie, but boy is it great drama and great fun. For me this movie is all about Vincent Price. He showed a genuine flair for comedy in this movie and carried the picture.
The plot is complicated. A deported gangster wants to get back into the USA. He devises this scheme to lure Robert Mitchum to a Mexican resort in order to kidnap him, adopt his identity with the help of his gang of cutthroats and a crooked ex-Nazi plastic surgeon, and dispose of him. The feds get wind of the scheme and wise the hero up. Vincent Price plays a ham actor who, after being a fake all his life, decides to get real and try to rescue him. Russell is a round heels who was making a play for the big time with Price only to fall in love with Robert Mitchum. There are flaws in this movie. There is something illogical in torturing Mitchum to get him to cooperate in his own destruction. The idea of spending eternity trying to inject a drug into him that will make him forget seems like an extreme waste of time when they could have just as easily cut his throat or strangled him. But all that aside:
Watching Vincent Price recite lines from his movies as he launches his rescue mission, shoots the bad guys, and generally plays the hero is something not to be missed. There are even references to some of Hollywood folklore. He quotes the line attributed to one of the moguls (Sam Goldwyn or Harry Cohn I think): "If you want to send a message, call Western Union". There may not be a message in this movie, but boy is it great drama and great fun. For me this movie is all about Vincent Price. He showed a genuine flair for comedy in this movie and carried the picture.