Meh.
Across the Pacific was okay. It was a mish-mosh of various Bogey movies thrown together. The tough as nails character named Rick, the obese villain by Sydney Greenstreet, etc. It was good, but man, it was a product of its times. The Japanese do not come off well in this.
I had to keep reminding myself that this was made in wartime. So when the female lead makes a point of saying that if you look really closely, they don’t all look alike, I didn’t roll my eyes completely out of my head. Only partly. Then there was the coke-bottle glasses super-Americanized character, who of course turned out to be Evil with a capital E in the end. Well, I guess that’ll put you more at ease with the then-current internment camp policy. Of course, since the Japanese were considered a security threat, many of the Asian characters were played by Chinese actors.
Keep repeating: wartime… 1942… product of its times…
Interesting side note, apparently this was originally written about plans to bomb Pearl Harbor, not the Panama Canal. Then the Japanese actually DID bomb Pearl Harbor. One of the principals involved in the picture described it as “creepy” which is surely understating things.
However, social issues aside, this was good but not a classic. All the elements were there, but it wasn’t a classic. For better bang for your buck, go rent Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon and make a night of it.
Shipped out two kits and a hat yesterday. Today, I need to pack up two more kits and finish up the second blue Jayne hat. This one fits much better. Now I’m contemplating ripping out the old one and casting on four fewer stitches. I’d rather redo it than send it out loose. Darn my craftsman’s pride!