Bogart's Rick in this movie was such a smug, unlikable jerk. So was Mary Astor, that laugh of hers when he passes out drunk, ugh! These two deserve one another. The racism in the film was offensive in the way that it's a function of this. His condescension toward the Japanese was kind of unbearable.
Smug & unlikable??!! This movie is, in many ways, remarkable. Remarkable because it presents the Japanese, to any OBJECTIVE eye, in reasonable terms. Considering that this was done really only several months after Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war against the Empire of Japan, this is extraordinary.
World War II, in case anyone forgets--or never knew--was quite literally an existential conflict. The sovereignty and very existence of nations & cultures was at stake. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor-the history of that is well known. World War II was already in full swing--the Germans were running rampant in Europe & North Africa, and the Japanese were running amuck in China & southeast Asia.
It is interesting to note that German spies living in Hawaii had been spying on U.S. military installations & activities in & around Pearl Harbor on behalf of Japan for years before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
It is completely ludicrous and naive for Americans today to express shock & dismay at the actions & attitudes surround the conduct of World War II. The world was literally at war, hundreds of thousands & million of people had died & would die before it was over. Compare that to the paltry number of names on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. We have NO idea what it was like or what it meant.
well said tram.
this film wasnt racist by any means. It was an average film and I could agree with OP it was somewhat dull, and mary astor sure doesnt bring out any of Bogie's sass or brash that he is famous for.. There were MANY propaganda films like this that were decent, all through the night - another Bogie flick..
Mary Astor just doesnt do it for me in any of her roles, nor is she pleasant to the eye, even in Maltese Falcon, a huge classic, twas all Bogie. Had The Falcon had Ann Sheridan, Bette Davis, etc.. it would have been even bigger with more sex appeal..
-- “A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.” Humphrey Bogart
I thought Bogart was pretty good. The only smug character was the Jap Prince. Bogie gave him what he deserved!
shareThe characters played by Bogart and Astor were very likable and entertaining.
Condescension toward the Japs was appropriate at that time, and under those circumstances. The MFers savaged China, the Philippines, etc., and attacked the U.S. without provocation. In the end, they reaped what they sewed. Tough S for them.
Nothing against their descendants today, however. Today's Japanese are in no way responsible for the mistakes of their ancestors.
For the time and under the circumstances, the Japanese as a people get a reasonable hearing...although Captain Higoto and Sugi are stereotypes by modern standards, Higoto never acts in a hostile way towards the Americans though he probably knows what's going on and even gives Rick Leland a heads up that he thinks Rick and Dr. Lorentz are probably headed for a clash. And you WON'T find a Japanese comic relief character in another wartime propaganda film, though you wouldn't find a character like Sugi in a modern movie.
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