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ACROSS THE PACIFIC stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet. It was directed by John Huston and Vincent Sherman.
I had never seen this movie before even though I grew up with a mother who watched movies on TV every afternoon. Growing up I was not a Bogie (Bogart's nick name) fan. I found something else to do with my time if one of his movies was on the TV. However, over the years I have come to enjoy his work.One night last week I saw Across The Pacific for the first time. Bogie never smiled so much than in this movie. I was surprised at how good he looked when he smiled naturally.
His name was Rick, like in Casablanca (made after this movie in 1942,) but he was not playing his usual tough guy, though his character was that too. In this role Bogie shows his wide range of talents.
Mary Astor is also much changed in Across The Pacific. Like-wise, Mary's role brings fun and shows more of her talent than I had seen in her movies. She and Bogie have a playful rapport in this World War II romantic comedy-drama about spies, the war to come, and ironical since this plot was written before the US war with Japan. The only problem I saw, though not a show stopper in the movie, was when Mary Astor's character happily runs into the hero's arm at the end when her beloved father has just been killed.
On a side note, the original story was written shortly before the attack on Pearl Harper where the plot line was to take place and the movie was to be filmed. They quickly moved the story line and shooting to Panama. The title remained the same even though they were not in the Pacific at all. I loved this movie!
~JD
ACROSS THE PACIFIC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Across_the_Pacific
Humphrey Bogart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Bogart
Mary Astor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Astor
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