Opium

The idea of drug trafficking and addiction as social threats didn't emerge until the post-war years – when marijuana and heroin no longer confined themselves to urban blacks and jazz musicians. Though the subject would seem a natural for film noir, the cycle as a whole ignored it, except for odd references (Jules Amthor drugging Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, for example).

But in the late 1940s, two films took on the phenomenon directly: Port of New York and To The Ends of the Earth. Both films show the stridency that would soon come to be characteristic of the Red Scare films of the early 1950s. Port of New York, however, effectively explored its noirish milieu, while To The Ends of the Earth harks back to the international espionage pictures of wartime and the pre-war years.

Treasury agent Dick Powell witnesses the mass death of Asian `slaves,' jettisoned overboard in chains from a Japanese freighter off the coast of San Francisco. Soon, in relentless pursuit of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, he circles the globe from Shanghai to Egypt to Cuba and finally to New York. His travels curiously intertwine with those of an American widow (Signe Hasso) and her young Chinese ward (Maylia). He uncovers a ruthless (`fanatical' is the preferred adjective) worldwide conspiracy to grow, distribute and sell opium, ultimately refined into heroin. The case doesn't crack until his ocean liner begins entry into New York harbor.

It's a good-bad movie. One of the burdens the noir cycle occasionally had to shoulder was paying homage to various principalities and duchies of the U.S. Government, generally J. Edgar Hoover's Federal Bureau of Investigation (as in Call Northside 777) or the Treasury Department (as in T-Men). Here, it's the Narcotics Bureau headed by Harry Anslinger, who graces the movie with his presence in three cameos. The requisite tone of reverence is anathema to noir, and Powell's voice-over narration drones on and on, a powerful opiate in itself.

But the nuts and bolts of the drug trade operated by a global cartel retain surprising interest, and the movie's pace picks up as it progresses, right up to a fairly shocking twist at the end. Many of its attitudes and assumptions show their age, but To The Ends of the Earth ultimately delivers its product.

To The Ends of the Earth is directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Jay Richard Kennedy. It stars Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, Maylia, Ludwig Donath and Vladimir Sokoloff. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.

Dick Powell stars as Treasury Agent Commissioner Michael Barrows, who after witnessing a terrible incident at sea goes on the trail of a major narcotics ring. Part docu-noir, part straight out crime drama, Stevenson's film is a pic that demands your full attention. Such are the intricacies of a plot involving a global narcotics operation, and the number of characters involved as Barrows literally country hops, it may even be a picture that improves because of a "needed" second viewing. Not to say that is a requisite, the structure and pace of the piece simply may not be your thing, but I'd like to put it on record that it seems an improver and definitely one to watch and listen to carefully. Helps, also, that there is much narration to aid the complexity of the case.

It begins in shocking fashion, with an event that has the ability to take you aback, and with your attention grabbed we are then on a jaunt with Barrows, getting up close and personal with either shifty persons or loyal international people willing to help the intrepid agent. He has dry wit and a cunning knowing, a guy we basically like to be around, with Powell (not for the first time in such a role) splendidly in character. There was a large budget afforded the production, so the near documentary approach doesn't look cheap (helps having Guffey on photography duties), while the MPA eased their "drugs in film" regulations to let the pic breath an air of much needed realism.

With the evils of narcotic smuggling given intelligent filmic substance - we learn much about the manufacture of opium and how it is hidden and retrieved etc - and some very drastic scenes involving murder and suicides, this is mature film making. Not all the cast leave lasting impressions (apart from Powell they were largely unknown at the time), and some of the speech sections are a little clunky, but this is an utterly polished piece of adult crime drama film making. 7.5/10

This was a combination documentary/fictional melodrama "based on actual incidents from the files of the Narcotics Division of the United States Treasury Department" for the "purpose of setting forth the functions and procedures of the Division" headed by Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger, who appears as himself in the opening, middle and end of the film. One of the "thou-shalt-nots" that was part of the Production Code list that had to be adhered to before a film could be issued an approval number---in this case PCA No. 12390---was an edict against showing any kind of illegal drug trafficking. The producers fought for and acquired a revision in the Code for this film.

Every time I looked to see how much time was left I'd say - dammit. Wish it could have gone on longer. Not sure why this one isn't more well known. Opens in that semi-documentary style, but after that it turns into a top-notch film. Story is complex enough without being confusing, entire cast is good. As much as I enjoyed Powell's been-there-done-that kinda attitude in "Murder, My Sweet", I like him better here, where it's more subtle, plus I like how his character is able to show a little more genuine surprise as the story unfolds.

Hate reviews that give away stuff, and I don't mean just give away the important stuff, I mean give away anything. Totally stubborn about that, more than anyone I know. Sorry, not gonna say anything about this plot except that the title sums it up well enough. Much better than most 40s-50s international intrigue BS like "Beat the Devil" or "Rope of Sand". If you can slog through that crap you need to watch this.

Most everything I watch these days are old crime thrillers, and as much as I enjoy them, a lot don't hold up well over time. This is an exception, no question. I hardly ever write reviews here - honestly, I don't even know if I've even done one, that's how much I care about putting them down. Felt compelled to in this case.

Fast-paced, tautly told tale of international opium smuggling in the pre-WWII period. Despite the docu-drama format (from the files of the US Treasury Dep't, etc.), police procedure manages not to get in the way. And a crackling good story it is, with a sneaky twist ending. Anti-Drug agent Barrows (Powell) has got to unravel an elaborate drug operation that takes him around the globe. On the way, he encounters all sorts of suspicious characters and risky situations. The studio (Columbia) does a good job mimicking exotic locales to create an appropriate atmosphere for the dedicated Barrows.

So, who's the man behind the illegal operation? Well, for one thing, we know he's an agent of imperial Japan (circa,1935) since their army seeks to pacify a conquered Manchuria with loads of the deadening drug—(note: I wish the prologue stated whether this wicked scheme is actual historical fact or not). Anyhow, the premise provides employment opportunity for a host of Hollywood's shady characters, including Hoyt, Hasso, and two favorite Nazis, Triesault and Donath. So there's intrigue a-plenty.

However, I'm not sure I buy the last leg of the smuggling operation since it seems so risky, depending as it does on exact timing in a big ocean. Nonetheless, the various ruses are cleverly conceived, although at times the various in's and out's may be a little hard to follow. And you may need a scorecard to keep up with the shifting cast of characters. But that early scene of jettisoning illegal cargo is one-of-a-kind and about as cold-blooded as any film of that era.

(In passing-- a recurring theme is international cooperation in behalf of mankind, while the final shot is an optimistic one of the United Nations building. A year later, and I suspect the menace would have shifted to the Soviets with a much darker outlook.) Still and all, this is one of the best docu-dramas from a time when Hollywood appeared to be doing gratis pr work for the feds.