To the Ends of the Earth (1948)
Grade: 57/100
Narcotics had been a taboo subject of the production code for years, ever since Reefer Madness (1936) had unintentionally become a cult film for pot smokers. But To the Ends of the Earth not only tackled the epidemic of worldwide opium smuggling, but portrayed the Treasury Department detectives in such a positive light that they provided technical support. Treasury commissioner Harry J. Anslinger even has a cameo appearance.
Always reliable and entertaining Dick Powell is the lead, playing federal agent Michael Barrows. Barrows is a family man who tends his rose gardens in New York City. But he is willing to drop everything at a moment's notice to travel around the world, on the trail of opium smugglers.
The film is set during the mid-1930s. Sinister, unseen Japanese imperialists are behind the shipments. Their scheme is to weaken the West through drug dependency, to facilitate global conquest. Powell follows the trail through China, Egypt, and Cuba. At each turn, he encounters two kinds of people: helpful, courageous, honest government agents, and shady, greedy, ruthless suspects who help produce or smuggle the opium.
To seeming innocents who keep appearing in the story are attractive Ann Grant (Signe Hasso) and her young, orphaned, even more attractive ward, Shu Pan Wu (Maylia). Shu Pan Wu is in her late teens, but acts much younger, like a sweet and friendly child.
Powell is a laconic derring-do hero, at one point climbing the side of a cliff to reach suspected poppy fields. His life is frequently in jeopardy, but he remains unflappable. He is completely comfortably in his surroundings, no matter how exotic they may be.
He is also without hormones, which may be uncinematic but perhaps was necessary to retain technical support from the feds. This is the primary difference between Barrows and James Bond: while the femmes may be fatale, he never drops his chivalric guard.
Like in all good detective stories, solving one puzzle leads directly to another. The script and direction is crisp, and there is often some suspense present. The only real problem, then, is the credibility of the characters and of the events themselves. Certainly, opium smugglers would go to the depths depicted to move their wares. But the dramatic suicides and omnipotent agents seem to be from a world unlike our own.
briankoller@usa.net http://elvisfan.simplenet.com/movies/movies.html http://www.epinions.com/user-briankoller
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