Nice and intelligent film , being Humphrey's second to last movie providing an awesome acting . As he plays a pilot called James 'Jim' Carmody (Bogart , though Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck were considered to star in this picture) attempting to escape in post WWIII , 1947 , dressed as a priest from the revenge of a Chinese warlord (Lee J Cobb) . At a Catholic mission in China , being long-awaited "Father O'Shea" but there shows up Carmody posing as a cleric and he proves to be a two-fisted guy . At this place lives the enticing nurse Anne (Gene Tierney) , a gorgeous war widow , who believes she is falling in love with someone she can't marry . Meanwhile , China disintegrates in civil war (1945-1949) , warlords , revolution and fights between Maoists and nationalists.
This is a sensitive film including emotions , interesting dialogue , a marvelous love story and fine performances . The hand of Edward Dmytryk tends to rely heavily on the enjoyable relationship between Bogart and Tierney . The film is pretty well , though results are rather dull and sincere with an abundance of narrative dialog . Interesting screenplay by Alfred Hayes based on the novel "The Left Hand of God" by William E. Barrett . Long time ago , William Faulkner completed an adaptation of the 1950 novel for director Howard Hawks , a longtime collaborator . Here Bogart in a new type of action role who proves to be surprisingly effective with the unusual character of an adventurer/pilot who disguised himself as a Catholic cleric . Gene Tierney is as beautiful as ever as the attractive woman . However , being last starring screen appearance of actress Gene Tierney, who had been suffering from mental illness for a number of years and entered various treatment centers . Support cast is frankly well , such as : Agnes Moorehead , E.G. Marshall , Jean Porter , Carl Benton Reid and Lee J Cobb is great as a warlord . The movie displays a luxurious and colorful cinematography by Franz Planer . Emotive and moving musical score by the classical composer Victor Young , including a stirring leitmotif .
The motion picture was well directed by Edward Dmytryk , though being slow-moving and with penchant to weight rather heavily on the proceedings . A veteran filmmaker, Dmytryck is one of Hollywood's most prolific directors who started his career in the early 40s . He was a craftsman whose career was interrupted by the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a congressional committee that employed ruthless tactics aimed at rooting out and destroying what it saw as Communist influence in Hollywood . A lifelong political leftist who had been a Communist Party member briefly during World War II, Dmytryk was one of the so-called "Hollywood Ten" who refused to cooperate with HUAC and had their careers disrupted or ruined as a result . The committee threw him in prison for refusing to cooperate, and after having spent several months behind bars , Dmytryk decided to cooperate . Dmytrick's biggest film was ¨The Caine Mutiny¨ , but he also realized another mutiny film titled : ¨Mutiny¨ with Angela Lansbury . Edward was an expert on warlike genre as ¨Back to Batan¨ , ¨Battle of Anzio¨ , ¨Young lions¨ and Western as ¨Broken lance¨ , ¨Alvarez Kelly¨ , ¨Warlock¨ , among others . Rating : 6.5/10 , better than average . It's recommended for drama enthusiasts and big stars lovers .
