drjgardner Think Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet along with John Huston and what do you come up with? "The Maltese Falcon" of course. But think again, because no sooner had Warner Bros created one of the best films of all time, they re-teamed the actors and the director and cinematographer and came up with this piece of flotsam that is hardly worth viewing. Called "Across the Pacific", this 1942 film came out just after the Pearl Harbor attack, so the original script had to be changed from Pearl Harbor to the Panama Canal, although the name somehow stuck.It's nice to see some of my favorite Asian actors at work here, including Richard Loo (Master Sun from "Kung Fu), Keye Luke (Master Po), and Kam Tong (Hey Boy from "Have Gun Will Travel"). But other than that, the film has little value.

LeonLouisRicci Entertaining Studio Wartime Production with Major Stars Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, and Mary Astor Reunited with Director John Huston. Fresh off the Commercial and Critical Success of the "Maltese Falcon" (1941), this one looks Hurried and the Back Lot is Forever in the Foreground lending it a Stiff and Stagey look.It's got a Prefabricated Appearance throughout and the Thing comes off as Contrived and Unconvincing. It is Professional but wholly Predictable. The Film will Never get Mentioned as Bogart or Huston's Best as the Film is Basically just a Hurried A-List Product of it's Time.The Setting was Supposed to be Pearl Harbor but was Changed because it seemed too Close for Good Taste. There was Hope for a "Maltese Falcon" Sequel but the Studio Neglected to Get the Rights to the Characters. This Mediocrity was the Substitute. There are some Interesting Scenes and the Cast Works Well together, but the Movie, all things Considered, is just a Rush Job of Competence. Worth a Watch for the Participants and a Peek at WWII Movie Making just getting Started. The Rules were being Made Up as They Go and it Shows. Nowhere Near the Best for Anyone in Front of or Behind the Camera and Hardly even a Great Propaganda Piece. A Curio-so for Film Students and Historians.Note...Mary Astor's hairstyle is one of those curiosities and one wonders who thought it attractive.

cricket crockett . . . by machine-gunning the heir of an Axis ruler to death while saving a co-equal primary target on Pearl Harbor day, all the while dealing the classiest dame in the vicinity and having better luck this time compared to his closing months earlier in north Afr!ca. Though I personally cannot see what our boys fighting the Axis saw in Bogart's co-star here, Mary Astor, apparently she had a role in another previous effort from Humphrey, THE MALTESE FALCON, along with a fat dude named Sydney Greenstreet, who rounds out a trio reunited for PACIFIC. The idea that main villain Joe Totsuiko (played by Sen Young) is a "nisei," or American-born, Axis operative is perhaps the most racist element of this film, though I am sure those people who drive Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans because they want to make a public statement apologizing for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to rile up true American patriots at a glance, would find many other instances in PACIFIC to commit hari kari over.

moonspinner55 Richard Macaulay had to do some fast rewrites on this John Huston-directed picture, based upon a magazine serial by Robert Carson. When dishonorably discharged Army Officer Humphrey Bogart is revealed to be a spy staking out a powerful Japanese sympathizer aboard a vessel to the Orient, the portly commander was originally supposed to be supervising the bombing of Pearl Harbor. When that occurred in real-life while the picture was in production, Macaulay hurriedly switched the locale to the Panama Canal (making the film's title irrelevant). However, even if the story structure is patchy--and Mary Astor's role as a plantation owner's daughter ultimately doesn't make much sense--"Across the Pacific" has a dryly joshing quality about it, and the end results are pleasant if unremarkable. Bogart (playing 'Rick', sometimes 'Ricky') is in jovial spirits throughout, especially when comparing gun sizes with Sydney Greenstreet (never better) or fingering Astor's back after she's acquired a sunburn; his blithe, easy performance makes the film enjoyable. Astor (ostensibly the love-interest) doesn't pour on the charm in her scenes with Bogie; she plays it rather big-sisterly with him, a seen-it-all kind of gal, and this works extremely well. The finale is a sign of the times--American fighter planes fill the skies--but even this corny touch works a little magic, despite the film's misshapen quality and sluggish beginning. **1/2 from ****