Tue 13 Jan 2026
Archived Movie Review: MACAO (1952).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[6] Comments
MACAO. RKO Radio Pictures, 1952. Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez, Gloria Grahame. Director: Josef von Sternberg.
The lives of three travelers from Hong King to Macao are intertwined in a tale of Oriental intrigue. One of them (which one?) is a New York City policeman whose quarry is s casino owner who refuses to travel beyond Macao’s three-mile limit.
You would think that Jane Russell and Robert Mitchum would make quite a screen combination, but such is not the case. Mitchum holds up his half, but while Jane Russell obviously had what it takes to become a movie star, her acting is curiously flat and unappealing.
— Reprinted from Movie.File.2, April 1988.
January 13th, 2026 at 9:24 pm
As far as watching this film online now, I wish I could say better, but I’m told it’s available as a rental on either Amazon Prime or Apple-TV.
January 13th, 2026 at 9:54 pm
The photography in this film is gorgeous.
Like much of Sternberg’s work.
January 14th, 2026 at 7:36 am
Gloria Grahame is very good, as usual.
Sternberg’s main interest in his films seems to have been the photography, with plot and characters just devices to hang it on.
January 14th, 2026 at 7:09 pm
Agreed on both counts. I wish they’d been able to film in color, though. It may or may not have helped the story much, but just watching would have been spectacular!
January 17th, 2026 at 3:34 am
They don’t give Russell half as much to do here as in His Kind of Woman, but I thought Mitchum, Grahame, Gomez, and Bendix more than made up for it.
I believe Nicholas Ray had to finish directing the film for Sternberg.
January 26th, 2026 at 5:35 am
David, the story I heard is that Howard Hughes, in a move typical of him, ordered most of the film re-shot when he was unhappy with Von Sternberg’s work. Whatever the case, it’s a bit disappointing but a decent time-killer.