After Jane Hoyt's journalist husband disappears, she arrives in Hong Kong determined to find him but instead meets shady shipping magnate Hank Lee.After Jane Hoyt's journalist husband disappears, she arrives in Hong Kong determined to find him but instead meets shady shipping magnate Hank Lee.After Jane Hoyt's journalist husband disappears, she arrives in Hong Kong determined to find him but instead meets shady shipping magnate Hank Lee.
- Rene Dupont Chevalier
- (as Alex D'Arcy)
- English Man
- (uncredited)
- Father Xavier
- (uncredited)
- Hotel Lobby Extra
- (uncredited)
- Clerk in Cheap Hotel
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaClark Gable felt that he was too old for the part but wanted to make the film because it reflected his own right-wing, anti-communist views.
- GoofsWhilst looking through the binoculars at the Chinese gunship, Hank is holding them upside down.
- Quotes
Tweedie: And so, all women is trouble. I don't care if she is Queen of Bulgaria, or head of the Girl Scouts. I don't mean there is anything wrong with women. I like women, but not in my place, understand? Because one woman alone is trouble. And two of 'em alone is twice as much trouble. And three of 'em alone can start a riot with a smile.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: HONG KONG CROWN COLONY
- ConnectionsFeatured in Legends of World Cinema: Anna Sten
- SoundtracksRum and Coca Cola
(uncredited)
Written by The Lord Invador and Lionel Belasco, often incorrectly attributed to Jeri Sullavan, Paul Baron and Morey Amsterdam
Played on piano and sung by customers in Tweedie's Bar
Anyway, for an adventure film, it's rather talky and, even if just 96 minutes long, it devotes too much attention to irrelevant subplots involving secondary characters (including gruff bar owner Tom Tully and a comeback role for former Swedish star Anna Sten) to the ultimate detriment of major ones: in fact, Susan Hayward who gets to interact with most of the cast is given more screen-time than Clark Gable (which is even more surprising when one remembers that this was Gable's first non-MGM film in 20 years!) and, in spite of their billing, both Michael Rennie and Gene Barry don't have a lot to do until the climax (though, in the latter's case, it's understandable as he's a prisoner in the hands of Communist China).
With respect to the narrative itself (Ernest K. Gann adapted his own novel for the screen), the film seems to fall between several stools action, romance, politics but, with its eye firmly on the box-office, this superficial and sometimes contrived approach ends up satisfying no one. That said, it's a generally entertaining ride and Dmytryk handles the proceedings in an efficient, if highly impersonal, manner.
In the end, I'd say that SOLDIER OF FORTUNE is the least of the 3 Fox titles released as part of the rather expensive "The Clark Gable Collection" the others being William Wellman's THE CALL OF THE WILD (1935) and Raoul Walsh's THE TALL MEN (1955; disappointingly, this is the only one not to feature an accompanying Audio Commentary).
- Bunuel1976
- Mar 21, 2007
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,515,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1