The Worst Film Ever

hyped garbage

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

SYNOPSIS: WW2 navy man returns to Singapore to take up his old occupation of pearl smuggling. However, it turns out that the wife he thought killed in a Japanese air raid is still alive, though suffering from amnesia — and now married to someone else!NOTES: Re-made as "Istanbul" (1957) with Errol Flynn and Cornell Borchers.COMMENT: This silly story is — incredibly — mostly the work of Seton I. Miller (The Dawn Patrol, Bullets or Ballots, Marked Woman,The Sea Hawk, The Black Swan, Ministry of Fear, Two Years Before the Mast). It manages to combine a melodramatic tale of pearl smuggling with an equally incredible tale of re-marriage and amnesia. The way the writers stretch moral values and all sense of what is believable to bring about the anticipated happy ending, is a miracle of pre- liberal censorship.Director John Brahm handles this tosh quite seriously, as if it were Graham Greene at his moodily moralistic best. The players certainly way out-class their shoddy material. Ava Gardner, exquisitely gowned and beautifully photographed, moves with customary grace through the attractive sets; whilst Porter Hall supplies a delightful impersonation of a tourist/plumber, and the ubiquitous Philip Ahn makes a surprise appearance as a barman!Other technical credits are equally first-rate. But what a pity such a pleasing music score is squandered on this sorry concoction of story and character clichés!Still, we're probably being a bit hard on Singapore. Any film with Ava is certainly well worth seeing. If you're not too critical, this one will doubtless give good entertainment.

This is a fairly decent yarn about a fortune hunting American in the days when Americans weren't considered ugly.It has the elements of film noir and mystery, though not really a lot of mystery. It is the story of a man returning to Singapore from America to find illegal valuables he hid.Many of the characters are a bit cliché, but it is an entertaining film, so it rates fairly high. The main nitpick that brings it down to a 6 is the ending, which is dragged out for a Hollywood cliché. The movie should have ended about nine minutes before it did. The way it ended was not only unrealistic and Hollywood, but just completely anticlimactic.

Fred Macmurray played one unforgettable role as Walter Neff in "Double Indemnity" (1944) and I cannot quite separate him from this role when I see FM perform in other films like "Singapore" where he plays Matt Gordon a pearl smuggler.I fervently believe the best acted performances come from the actor having an affinity or some actual practical experience of the role in real life.I am not saying FM was into insurance fraud but he looked more comfortable in an American setting.The plot has been adequately commented on by other reviewers above, most notably by Terrell-4 from San Antonio Texas, whose review I commend.There were a few things I found irritating and getting a second rate TV director will not produce a first class film.First, after Ava Gardner had being roughed up by one of the "baddies" to get her to talk, there was not a blemish, bruise or mark on her Venus like face.When FM wants to pay for his bar bills he decides how much he will pay leaving some notes on the table, without waiting to receive a bill - I noticed he did this on at least two occasions.Yet again actors (FM) appear to be able to walk through other guests hotel bedroom doors or magically have the right key in their pockets, this is a general continuity criticism of films of this era; so much for hotel security.What is an American gangster doing in Singapore? One of the "heavies" sounded like he came from 1920s Chicage!On the plus side I liked Roland Culver's performance as plantation manager van Leiden who played an honest man who is prepared to give up his Venus like wife because he knows she really loves Walter Neff (sorry FM).Richard Haydn for once plays it straight as the police commissioner in colonial Singapore on the trail of local malefactors and I hardly recognised him compared to say his performance as Mr Wilson in "Cluny Brown" (1946).Taken all together I found it enjoyable but uneven and therefore rated it 6/10.

SINGAPORE (1947) Fred MacMurray, Ava Gardner. ** Bland mix of film noir, and imitation CASABLANCA. Imagine all the CASABLANCA characters portrayed by competent but unmemorable actors. Place them, again, in an exotic setting, in a story about passionate lovers separated by war and later reunited. Once more, the love of the hero's life is married to another man, but this time the plot includes amnesia and pearl smuggling. Gardner is radiant and sexy, but her acting inexperience shows. MacMurray is wooden. First rate cinematography, however.