The Left Hand of God

You won't get the urge to hail with hallelujahs, but you'll walk away shrugging, and mumbling what the, especially when Yang's encountered, but the film was always downward, poor Lee J. Cobb is quite the opposite of stupendous. You may also have concerns about the mule, although there's several that compete to trick and fool, with a story that's so thin, Bogey's a fogey and quite thin, deserving better than this festering pustule. At least it's short which means you don't have to endure, a bit less than 90 minutes of Yak manure, but you'll not forget poor Lee, an Asian minstrel - could he see? A film with very low appeal, without allure.

Considering it provides a rare opportunity to see Bogart in colour, is set during the civil war in China, Bogart pretends to be a gun-toting priest in his most bizarre role since playing a vampire over fifteen years earlier in 'The Return of Dr X' and Lee J. Cobb plays a Chinese warlord, you come out of it thinking "is that it?"

Bogart looks very old and tired, but he and the rest of the cast all do good work; although Victor Young's obtrusive score over-eggs the pudding as usual.

Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney headline this 20th Century Fox production. It is one of Bogart's few color films.

I liked the fact that the two lead characters in The Left Hand of God don't wind up together and that there is not a romantic happy ending. It certainly would not ring true for these characters and their situation.

I didn't buy Lee Cobb as the warlord. He's a great actor, but for him to play a role in yellow face, he would need to look at least the tiniest bit Asian. He doesn't. He has too wide a nose and lacks the type of delicate features that would make him physically believable as an Asian. Agnes Moorehead is good as always.

Father O'Shea, arrives at a Catholic mission in 1947 China, though his methods at first seem heavy handed, the villagers come to admire and respect him. But the longer he stays there the closer he gets to Anne, a pretty nurse who herself is strangely drawn to this unorthodox priest, it is just a matter of time before the truth will out and secrets are about to become uncovered.

Based on the novel by William E. Barrett, The Left Hand Of God just about registers as an interesting piece. I would go as far to say that it's merely the presence of some big name actors that have stopped this one from being panned wholesale. The acting is fine, Humphrey Bogart takes the lead as Father O'Shea, restrained and committed to the role he is, but it's not really a role calling for anything out of the ordinary. Gene Tierney plays Anne and barely has enough written for her to flourish, and this accounts for a distinct lack of chemistry between herself and Bogart. Gruff nasty villain duties fall to Lee J. Cobb, who in his oriental makeup now looks incredibly dated and sadly, laughable. The story will be of interest to those of religious beliefs, and at its heart the redemption fable is to be roundly applauded, but the whole movie drags to its inevitable conclusion and come the warm finale i personally felt that it's such a waste of talent. Yes it's touching at times, and yes its point is well and truly made, but ultimately it's a very forgettable piece of interest to Bogart and religious purists only. 5/10

I first saw the film, and found it quite good. The story was catching, and the actors were splendid. As far as Bogart is concerned, I rank this movie with "the Caine Mutiny", and above "African Queen". Lee J. Cobb I found quite good too, and much more credible than Curd Juergens in "the Inn of sixth happiness". The rest of the cast gives, I think, a quite good idea of the missionary life in China. Which was the weak part in the otherwise good "Sand Pebbles". I read the book at least once a year. It explains more of the movie plot, and I recommend to anyone interested in the ethics of the film, but it should have been too long, if strictly respected in the screenplay. I'd rate the movie 9,5/10, admitting, though, that Bogart is one of my favorite actors, which could biase my judgment !