MovieChat Forums > Across the Pacific (1942) Discussion > Three things. (Spoilers)

Three things. (Spoilers)

posted 16 years ago by Too313
1 reply | jump to latest

I didn't understand the relationship arc between Bogart and Astor. He acted from second one that just because he was on the boat with this woman that they were going to get it on. Why? Maybe the woman couldn't stand him or wasn't attracted to him. Strange I thought.

Then later she seemed to like him. But the first few scenes were weird. The walk with Greenstreet? Sort of reminded me of "marriage by capture" somehow. If the woman is alone well of course she'll be his. His assumptions were based only on being on the same boat.

Too bad about the Japanese only having one man by the only weapon that could bring down the plane. No one looking in the other 180 degree arc? If bogie didn't get the MG then adios Panama Canal.

Across the Pacific's repetition of moments from Maltese Falcon reminded me also of the later Arnold movie End of Days that used the same motifs from Terminator 2. The same beaten up Arnold coming back at the end for more against the unstoppable villainous force. Same setups for the same basic story content.

The Greenstreet scenes were too close to Maltese Falcon I thought.
The one I mean is the "you're a most curious man" line said with his laugh. It just seemed forced about the way Arnold in End of Days seemed forced. In Terminator 2 and Maltese Falcon those moments worked perfectly and were totally organic.

They say you can't go home again...

I liked the movie though for showing wharfs and harbors and towns sixty years ago. It was an exotic movie.

It showed an Americanized Japanese to offset the stereotyped Japanese but then of course the Americanized Japanese turned out to be evil. SO there were no good Japanese only dead Japanese.

Creature of World War Two perhaps... Total War. I don't think the Japanese were very nice to China or Korea or The Philippines or Burma. The rape camp comfort stations they set up certainly were racist as hell. Two wrongs make a right?

[–] Skye_Reynolds 15 years ago

Yeah, they really played off of the momentum of The Maltese Falcon, right down to featuring the same three stars and featuring trailers with the same "Come closer, I want to talk to you..." monologue from Greenstreet.

As for the lack of any good Japanese characters, I would say that Suigi ("Should-a be") was a legitimately innocent character. Sadly, with America being thrust into WWII midway through filming, he would end up being one of the very last innocent Japanese characters for the next four years of US cinema. The film Behind the Rising Sun featured a few Japanese characters martyred by their government when they refuse to take part in the new order. To the best of my knowledge, that's pretty much it until the end of WWII.

As for the Schwarzenegger comparison, I think End of Days was just sort of unfinished business for Arnie. He'd taken on all comers for a decade and a half and it seemed like Satan himself was the only one left to fight.