Soldier of Fortune (1955) User Reviews (40)

Suspense , adventure movie bristles with cliches , but it boasts two good stars , Gable and Hayward

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 12 June 2018]

A woman , Susan Hayward , enlists a shipping magnate , Clark Gable , to help her to find his lost husband , Gene Barry , in Red China . Meanwhile , Clark becomes involved with a motley collection of unsavoury underworld figures. As there are rumors that the hubby might be held by the Communist Chinese military as a spy and Gable set out in hunting the missing man in Hong Kong , Macao and Canton .

An entertaining but slowly paced adventure has Gable as a shady smuggler entrepreneur who attempts to save the husband photographer of a distinguished Mistress, Hayward. Late Clark vehicle with the ordinary formula beginning to fall and feel the postwar strain ; besides, there is not enough action to keep adventure fans happy . It hardly ever delivers fast movement , though there is an exciting final getaway . Still a decent but mediocre fun, at times , from two top drawer stars, Gable and Hayward. As Susan had been among the myriad starlets vying for the Scarlett OHara role nearly two decades early .Here Hayward has a character less dynamic than those she was used to at the time , like the Oscarized : I want to live¡ . Support cast is pretty well , there's plenty of notorious secondaries as Michael Rennie , Gene Barry , Jack Kruschen , Russell Collins , Tom Tully , Leo Gordon, Richard Loo , Mel Welles , a very small role by James Hong , Alexander D'Arcy , and it is surprise to find the glamour of a silent cinema great star : Anne Stern as a middle-age woman who marries Russell Collins.

The picture contains colorful cinematography in Cinemascope, Color De Luxe, by Leo Tover, probing his camera really makes the teeming streets and water-ways of Hong Kong and Macao spring to life . And sensitive and romantic musical score by Hugo Friedhofer, including oriental sounds. The film was regular but professionally directed by Edward Dmytryck . He was a fine craftsman who directed a lot of films, some of them are considered classic movies .Howewer, Edward's later pictures tended to be on the sluggish side , such as Soldier of Fortune .Edward was a member of the communist party and he was denounced before HUAC . He was one of the so-called " Hollywood Ten" , though , subsequently he turned an informer and was panned by the establishment . Dmytryck made films of all kinds of genres such as Western: Shalako,Alvarez Kelly, Raintree country, Broken lance, Warlock ; Wartime : Anzio, The Caine Mutiny, Hitler's children, Young Lions, Back to Bataan ; Drama : The carpetbaggers, Mirage, The human factor, The left hand of God , The mountain, Till the end of time, Crossfire , Her first romance , Tender comrade , End of affair , Cornered , among others.

One of my Favorites

[windyintr · 7/10 · 27 August 2006]

Gable and Hayward are great to watch and Hong Kong is the uncredited star of this flick. Admittedly, Gable was not in his prime but he had the charm and sex appeal to keep viewers, especially females, interested. There is one scene between Gable and Hayward showing the harbor entrance of a typhoon that is sexier than any current movie showing actual sex. My only complaint with Susan Hayward was her hair. Her stylist really goofed on this one. Her hair was parted in such a way that she looked like she had a "comb-over" from the back. Her clothes were perfect for her neat, compact figure. She really was an adorable woman and I'm glad that she had a happy second marriage. Richard Loo was marvelous as the anti-communist, expatriate general. His comments are as relevant today as they were in 1955. Michael Rennie was as usual the superb Brit that we all loved to watch and listen to in the '50s. But the music has always been the real hook for me. I watch this movie again and again to enjoy the wonderful music. I think David Raksin of "Laura" fame wrote the score.

Rhett in China

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 26 April 2006]

Even toward the end of his marvelous career, Clark Gable's screen persona of the charming, irresistible bounder was untarnished. Unhappy with the roles MGM was giving him, he did not renew his contract. "Soldier of Fortune," which Gable subsequently did for 20th Century Fox, is a big budget, good-looking movie with big stars, none of which can hide the fact that it's a routine story that John Hodiak could have done in black and white in 1950 and probably did.

Susan Hayward plays a woman who arrives in Hong Kong to look for her photographer husband (Gene Barry) who has slipped into China illegally. She runs into of a bunch of sleazy characters and finally meets Henry Lee (Gable), a soldier of fortune with money and contacts. He's an older version of Rhett Butler - out for himself but capable of goodness as well. He falls hard for Hayward and becomes more determined than ever to find her husband so he doesn't have to compete with a ghost. With two such attractive stars, it's obvious what's going to happen.

The stars and the supporting cast - Michael Rennie, Tom Tully, Anna Sten et al - are all very good. It's a beautifully photographed film that undoubtedly looked great on the big screen with its Technicolor panoramas of Hong Kong, but alas, it's not very exciting. Gable looks fantastic and immaculate in his white suit, his smile as dimpled and his voice as gruff as ever, and Hayward, not the warmest actress who ever lived, is excellent as a concerned and confused woman. They work very well together.

It's hard to say the movie is not worth seeing because as excellent as some of our actors are today, there are no Gables. There was only one - and checking him out is always worthwhile.

Hong Kong is the real star of the movie...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 9 July 2003]

In search of her missing photographer husband, Jane Hoyt (Susan Hayward) arrives in Hong Kong and learns at the U.S. Consulate that her mission is futile, that neither the United States nor the British government can help her...

She turns in despair to Hank Lee (Clark Gable), an American soldier of fortune who runs a profitable smuggling business on each side of the bamboo curtain...

Hank is attracted to Jane's sultry red-haired beauty... He develops a personal interest in the lady, but when she repulses his advances, he realizes that the only way to win her over is to rescue her husband... Aided by an incorruptible English harbor policeman, Inspector Merryweather (Michael Rennie), he discovers that her husband is being held prisoner near Canton, where he is being brainwashed...

Hank prepares to rescue Hoyt in his powered junk, Chicago, and is annoyed to find Inspector Merryweather aboard... Since the inspector knows the nature of Hank's merchandise, he was held prisoner aboard the sailing vessel... Later, however, when Hank's crewmen desert rather than enter Red China, Merryweather, realizing that this is a rescue mission, offers his help...

Clark Gable was getting a little too old for these kinds of actions, but the film holds attention with its good yarn and its interesting locations...

Hayward looks different without her famous long tresses... This was her second movie with the tall, gaunt Michael Rennie... She had one scene with him in 'Demetrius and the Gladiators.'

Ironically, this anticommunist adventure film was directed by Edward Dmytryk, one of the 'Hollywood Ten.'

Clark Gable takes on Communist China in order to rescue Susan Hayward's husband.

[Mickey-2 · 7/10 · 11 April 1999]

Based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Gann, "Soldier of Fortune" has Clark Gable taking on the type of role that made him one of the early kings of Hollywood. As Hank Lee, Gable has many connections in Hong Kong, and mainland China during the 50's. Susan Hayward has learned of her husband's capture on trumped-up charges from the Chinese gov't, and is willing to use any means possible to rescue him. This means even recruiting the mysterious Hank Lee, a rogue, a bandit, a smuggler, and those are his good qualities, according to the British crown, represented by Michael Rennie.

When all is said and done, Gable finally accepts the challenge, and how he pulls the rescue off makes the story. Downtown Hong Kong has many memorable shots, and the film utilizes each of them to the fullest potential.

Cold War Epic

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 12 February 2006]

Soldier of Fortune marked Clark Gable's first film away from MGM after his contract was not renewed. 20th Century Fox did right by him, gave him a film to shoot on location in Hong Kong and an actress who was at the height of her career as a new leading lady in Susan Hayward.

This was the second big epic film they shot in Hong Kong that year, the other being Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. Unlike the William Holden- Jennifer Jones epic, Soldier of Fortune leans more to adventure and intrigue than romance.

Hayward's husband Gene Barry is a prisoner of the Chinese government, apparently having taken some pictures he shouldn't have as a freelance photo journalist. Hayward's in Hong Kong to try and affect a rescue and she comes up against some unscrupulous types including Gable. Gable's more interested in her, but helping the husband's rescue is a package deal.

I would have hoped that with the one and only teaming of Gable and Hayward a better story could have been found. Soldier of Fortune isn't a bad film, hardly the worst thing either of them did, but in essence it's really a souped up Grade B adventure saga. The class of the players make it seem more than it is. Plus the fact it was done on location as opposed to the backlot of 20th Century Fox.

Soldier of Fortune has a good cast of character actors. Look for some good performances by Michael Rennie as the British inspector, Alexander D'Arcy as a conniving French rogue and Tom Tully as a slimy influence peddler.

An Unmotivated Search, an Unconvincing Romance

[dglink · 7/10 · 10 October 2015]

Fiery Jane Hoyt, played by Susan Hayward of the blazing red hair, arrives in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in search of her husband, Louis, a photographer who disappeared while on a shoot in Mainland China. Louis, played by Gene Barry, entered China illegally without a visa and has been detained by the Communist authorities. Hayward enlists the aid of a shipping magnate with connections, Clark Gable, to locate her husband and bring him out. While the chemistry between Hayward and Gable is lukewarm at best, an on-screen romance ensues, which undercuts the credibility of Hayward's portrayal of a loving faithful wife in search of her missing husband. The gruff mature Gable, who incongruously has adopted three Asian children, makes the moves on Hayward, who stoically receives his kisses and allows him to hold her hand across a table. Actually, the coolness between Gable and Hayward is a torrid fire compared to the freeze between Barry and Hayward. Thus, both the motivation for Hayward's journey to Hong Kong in search of her missing husband and her attraction to Gable are undercut by the lack of warmth between the actors; what the script says and what the performers suggest are miles apart. When not being pursued by Gable or other wolves on the prowl, Hayward searches the city for information on her husband. The search brings her into contact with a number of supporting players, including Michael Rennie, Alex D'Arcy, and Tom Tully, and several distracting subplots, which only serve to remind viewers that the film was adapted from a novel by Ernest K Gann, who also wrote the script.

Director Edward Dmytryk keeps the action scenes going at a decent pace, and Hayward's search is initially intriguing. However, even Dmytryk can do little with the unconvincing love affair or the lack of chemistry between his three stars, who acquit themselves professionally, but no more. Leo Tover's colorful cinematography captures an exotic, but now bygone, Hong Kong of junks, sampans, and stunning vistas of mountains and bays. Set in the 1950's, "Soldier of Fortune" would make an ideal double bill with "Love is a Many Splendored Thing," a more successful romantic film that shares both location and period with the Gable-Hayward vehicle. The Dmytryk film has much in its favor: an exotic locale, fine cinematography, two top stars, an able supporting cast, and a fairly good story. Unfortunately, "Soldier of Fortune" is one of those movies that is worth seeing, but less than the sum of its parts.

Gable on location/Hayward at home!

[gregcouture · 24 August 2003]

This is one of those early Twentieth Century Fox CinemaScope potboilers where the studio sent (most of) the cast and crew to actual locations and took full DeLuxe Color advantage of places that most of the potential audience would never visit in real life. So, the bustling and already festooned-with-highrises city of Hong Kong is the principal setting for the jumping-off point of the plot. It's pretty obvious that Gable is actually there in Hong Kong for a few of the shots but Susan Hayward, embroiled in a custody battle after her divorce from Lex Barker, didn't dare leave the U.S., or her chances of caring for her children by that marriage might have been scotched. Therefore long shots and a few medium ones of her were cleverly arranged with a double and she performs all of her closeups, et cetera, safely ensconced on the Fox soundstages in West Los Angeles and against some rather good back projections.

Gable and Hayward are a pretty good team and Michael Rennie lends his usual elegant support. Gene Barry has a rather thankless role as Susan's eventually rejected husband, and the supporting cast, including the Asians appearing as various Chinese, are all convincing under Edward Dmytryk's workmanlike direction.

For me the real stars, however, are Leo Tover's excellent use of the CinemaScope lenses and, once again, Hugo Friedhofer's atmospheric score. In my opinion, no other Hollywood master of the full orchestral enhancement was able to cue the audience and call up some real emotion with so few bars of music. This film is a sterling example of his art. Just check out the closing few moments of the film. He could send you out of the theater convinced you'd seen something even better than what you had actually viewed!

Once more, Gable plays the likable rogue....but he does it so well.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 29 February 2008]

Susan Hayward arrives in Hong Kong because her rather irresponsible reporter husband has disappeared--most likely across the border in Communist China. A wide variety of low-lifes offer to help but most seem intent with either bedding her or getting her money. One of these disreputable characters is played by Clark Gable--a man who seems to be heavily involved in the black market and smuggling. Of course Gable falls for Hayward, but the fact that she's loyal to her husband keeps getting in his way.

This is an awfully familiar plot considering Clark Gable played in many movies with similar plot threads from the 1930s until the end of his career. In so many of his films, he played a rogue who was often on the wrong side of the law and who claimed to have no loyalty to anything but himself. However, again and again, by the end of the film, his character turned out to be decent after all--and usually get the girl. Despite all this being present in SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, I enjoyed the movie for two reasons. First, Gable always played those parts so well that it's hard to dislike these films. Second, setting the movie in Hong Kong was a welcome relief and breathed life into the old theme. In particular, the spectacular scenery really enhanced the film and made it sparkle.

The 46 Year Old Anna Sten

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 7 September 2019]

Good-looking in that bland sort of way that DeLuxe Color productions of the 50's tended to, 'Soldier of Fortune's depiction of the dastardly red Chinese marked a further step in former blacklistee Edward Dmytryk's continuing atonement for his politically incorrect past.

Despite its attractive Hong Kong locations and Hugo Friedhofer's emphatically 'Chinese' music on the soundtrack, the interiors are obviously shot back in Hollywood, as well as being very talky. (Sam Fuller made much better use of Tokyo in the same year's 'House of Bamboo'.)

Seventh-billed amidst a good cast is the ill-starred Anna Sten, who despite playing a barfly and wearing unflattering makeup can still just be recognised as the lovely girl from the Ukraine who showed such promise in silent films before crashing and burning in Hollywood during the thirties. In her only colour film she has a vivid scene early on dancing on a table in a green dress and matching shoes, which even gets her a proposal of marriage; whereupon she promptly disappears from the film.

Colorful but flat, this Fortune and Men's Eyes is partially blind.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 30 August 2013]

Fifteen years after loosing the opportunity to be Scarlet to Clark Gable's Rhett, Susan Hayward gets him in the far east of Shanghai as opposed to the South East of Atlanta. She's a no-nonsense American woman who comes to China to find her missing adventurer husband with tough guy Gable's help. Of course, they clash at first as he makes a pass, she calls him on it and he ends up rescuing her anyway. Adventure at sea leads them to the missing husband, played by Michael Rennie, and a shoot-out leads to the inevitable conclusion of whom Hayward chooses.

This is a familiar tale of "King Solomon's Mines" similarity taking it to another exotic place and adding on flashy Cinemascope Technicolor photography to make it even more splashy. Gable and Hayward are an exciting team, and I am surprised that they only did one film together. Their chemistry is undeniable. The film delves into the darkness of life in a world far beyond our comprehension, showing some rather sordid treatment of women in this mysterious world. An Anna May Wong look-alike is abused by her obvious lover, watches him get beaten up by Gable, then rushes to his side to wash the blood and sweat off his brow while telling Gable what he needs to know. Hayward is particularly sweet in a scene where she encounters one of Gable's foster children, an adorable young boy who is fascinated by American cowboys.

Veteran actress Anna Sten, who had a brief career as a leading lady in the 1930's before Box Office Poison did her in, has a nice supporting role here as a shady lady whom even the trashiest of men ignore. Gene Barry plays a rather shady character whom Hayward encounters on her arrival, reminding me of a slightly younger Gilbert Roland. Fortunately, the Asian stereotypes are minimal, so there is only a little that may offend. But with its familiar plot only moved to a different location, the predictability is obvious, and that lessens its impact.

Susan Hayward

[Williliwaw · 10/10 · 29 April 2006]

Miss Susan Hayward was a feminist heroine: tough, smart, edgy, beautiful beyond measure. Caught in a court fight with her estranged husband, 20th was forced to shoot Miss Hayward's scenes at the studio in Beverly Hills...no problem. They could have been shot on Mars because Susan Hayward plays this part to the hilt.

Miss Hayward and her co star Clark Gable were natural stars and natural actor..together they work magic...

The ending is particularly modern: Miss Hayward meets up with Clark Gable and instead of clinching and saying they love each other...well just see the movie, likely one of the most adult endings of all time.

"The Brooklyn Bombshell" Meets "The King of Hollywood"

[ferbs54 · 6/10 · 17 June 2009]

The film in which "The Brooklyn Bombshell," Susan Hayward, met "The King of Hollywood," Clark Gable, 1955's "Soldier of Fortune" is a middling adventure that should have been much better. In this one, Hayward journeys to Hong Kong to begin her search for her missing husband, a journalist being held prisoner in mainland China, and enlists the aid of junk-fleet smuggler Gable as a last resort. If this scenario of a journalist being held captive by an Asian Communist country strikes anyone as being implausible, just consider what is happening in North Korea today, and the plight of newswomen Ling and Lee! Anyway, with old pros like Gable and Hayward, the film is certainly well acted and interesting, and the two, in their only screen pairing, DO have a nice chemistry. They are ably abetted by Gene Barry (as Susan's husband) and Michael Rennie (as a sympathetic British police officer), and the scenery of mid-century Hong Kong is at least as spectacular as that shown in "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" and "The World of Suzie Wong." Unfortunately, the picture has its problems. Despite being scripted by Ernest K. Gann, from his novel, the story seems inadequately fleshed out, and several subplots (that bar wedding, the Chinese ex-general) peter out and seem pointless (maybe they are there simply to add color?). Perhaps worst of all, the rescue of Barry from his jail on the mainland is accomplished waaay too easily; if only WE could send some can-do guys into North Korea to conk a few heads and waltz those women out! Hayward did not go to Hong Kong during the filming of this picture, and though director Edward Dmytryk (who would make another movie based in China that same year, "The Left Hand of God") & Co. work their magic, this fact is sometimes distractingly obvious. I must add that I enjoyed "Soldier of Fortune" more during a repeat viewing, with lowered expectations. But then again, I can watch Susan Hayward in anything....

Hollywood goes East

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 24 March 2018]

SOLDIER OF FORTUNE is one of those 'Eastern adventures' that Hollywood loved making on the occasion. This one has a glamorous starlet in the form of Susan Hayward, who travels to Hong Kong in search of her missing playboy husband, as played by a youthful Gene Barry. She discovers that he illegally entered China and has subsequently gone missing, and the only man to help is roguish adventurer Clark Gable (a little long in the tooth, but still possessing some old-time charisma). This all-colour production is a little stodgy and dated on occasion, but generally gets by on an action-adventure template and lots of local character. Michael Rennie is an asset as the stiff-lipped policeman and the climax doesn't disappoint.

Worth it just to look at Susan Hayward...

[fedor8 · 10 April 2008]

The 50s was Hollywood's probably worst-ever decade, the highlights of that period very ironically being mostly low-budget, so-bad-they're-good sci-fi and monster movies. Even though SOF isn't by any means a brilliant exception to the rule, it does offer something that a number of 50s big-studio movies did have: beautiful women (in this case one woman) and great Technicolor visuals. Susan Hayward has never looked better: she is quite simply stunning. The coastal night scenes are visually impeccable. The story isn't too cheesy for that period and refreshingly presents communists as the bad guys. (The movie was made post-McCarthy-clean-up so there was a pleasant hiatus that lasted several years regarding left-wing propaganda films that glorified communists or at least tried to soften the brutality of such regimes.) Clark Gable, if a little old, in the lead role can't hurt either.

Compare 40s/50s beauties like Liz Taylor, Olivia de Havilland, and Susan Hayward to modern-day wrecks like Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz. Sad...

It aged well but a few strambotic scenes, entertaining movie

[AlexMedario · 6/10 · 11 April 2020]

It´s an entertaining movie, fast, you get to the end of it without looking at the clock, a good plot and it´s nice to watch the Honk Kong of the time.

In the downside, there are a few bizarre scenes, for example a fight with unrealistics punchs or the quick drunkness of the french guy in the bar.

What I found strange is the speed of the movie. When compared with nowadays films, I think that maybe in this film the plot included too many things, the film was not a long film and this forced the director to cut into explanations and just show the conclusions.

SOLDIER OF FORTUNE (Edward Dmytryk, 1955) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 22 March 2007]

This typically glossy Fox production from the 1950s, hinging on equal parts star power and exotic locations, was another title I had missed out on several times along the years; after its recent SE DVD release, I made it a point to catch up with the film next time around.

Anyway, for an adventure film, it's rather talky and, even if just 96 minutes long, it devotes too much attention to irrelevant subplots involving secondary characters (including gruff bar owner Tom Tully and a comeback role for former Swedish star Anna Sten) to the ultimate detriment of major ones: in fact, Susan Hayward – who gets to interact with most of the cast – is given more screen-time than Clark Gable (which is even more surprising when one remembers that this was Gable's first non-MGM film in 20 years!) and, in spite of their billing, both Michael Rennie and Gene Barry don't have a lot to do until the climax (though, in the latter's case, it's understandable as he's a prisoner in the hands of Communist China).

With respect to the narrative itself (Ernest K. Gann adapted his own novel for the screen), the film seems to fall between several stools – action, romance, politics – but, with its eye firmly on the box-office, this superficial and sometimes contrived approach ends up satisfying no one. That said, it's a generally entertaining ride – and Dmytryk handles the proceedings in an efficient, if highly impersonal, manner.

In the end, I'd say that SOLDIER OF FORTUNE is the least of the 3 Fox titles released as part of the rather expensive "The Clark Gable Collection" – the others being William Wellman's THE CALL OF THE WILD (1935) and Raoul Walsh's THE TALL MEN (1955; disappointingly, this is the only one not to feature an accompanying Audio Commentary).

Slick Political Thriller with La Hayward at Her Best!

[mrsmagloo · 7/10 · 25 September 2009]

Jane Hoyt (Susan Hayward, graceful and stunning, but tough as nails, as always), arrives in Hong Kong, intent on finding her husband, photojournalist Louis Hoyt (Gene Barry), who went missing in Communist China (where is Bill Clinton when you need him? ;) several months before. Back then, the British Empire owned Hong Kong, so she must go through them (in the form of a dashing Michael Rennie), but gets few leads, except for the name of a Mr. Lee, whom Rennie has few good words for.

Thanks to deft editing, solid acting throughout, and beautiful photography, the flick moves quickly, taking us to seedy Tweedy's bar, the streets of Hong Kong, and ultimately to the luxurious home of the mysterious Mr. Lee (Cable) himself. Clark seems a tad old for the part, but is in great shape physically, and moves quickly and gracefully through all the action scenes. There is plenty of comic relief in the scenes at Tweedy's bar. Look for a stand-out performance by Anna Sten as Madame Dupree as Tweedy's "starving spy" who finds true love.

If you like "Love is a Many-Slendored Thing," you will like this movie, although people with strict morals about marriage may raise any eyebrow or two throughout the course of the movie, even for one made in 1955!

The Why of Things

[schappe1 · 7/10 · 8 September 2020]

This is a good, not great, adventure done in Cinemascope in the mid-50's showing off the sights of Hong Kong and the talents of a good cast in a reasonably involving story. One point of order: Gable is not a 'Soldier of Fortune' - a guy who hires out to perform daring tasks. He's a former soldier with a fortune - a GI cashiered from the Army when he punched an officer who got involved in the underworld of trading in the far east with such great success that a decade later, he's living like a potentate and master of all he surveys. We see him viewing Hong Kong from on high in the first shot, atop a mountain that can only be accessed by a train that climbs up the side, looking down on all the people who haven't made it as big as he has. He should be an arrogant man, unconcerned with other people's problems. But then we see him descending in the train, looking out the window with a look on his face as if something's missing in his life. It's a brilliant scene, one that establishes something important about the main character.

Later, when he meets Susan Hayward, a woman searching for her adventurous photographer husband, who has been captured by the Red Chinese, you might think he'd take a Rick Blaine-type attitude and tell her that her problems are not his concern, (only to be persuaded later that they are). Instead he's more like an older Rhett Butler, (of course he's older- it's 1955!), who is something of a rogue himself but recognizes quality in other people. He falls for her immediately, perhaps because he admires her perseverance in trying to get her husband back. The script requires that he at first turn her away but it isn't long before they are re-connected. The fact that he's never been married but thinks that it's time he did something about it is made clear. In this initial scene, we see that he's father to three orphaned children, although we meet only one who tells the lady, ('Jane Hoyt') that someday they are going back to where their father was born. Gable's 'Hank Lee' plays a tape recording he had made of the sounds of Chicago, his home town just so he can listen to it. The flagship of his fleet of Chinese Junks is also called 'Chicago'. He's done everything he wanted to do in Asia. Now he wants a wife and he wants to go home.

Ms. Hoyt tells him that her husband's desire for adventure has made their marriage difficult but that she's never wanted to change her husband into some other kind of man. That's a statement that would appeal to a strong man like Hank Lee who wants a wife but doesn't want to be someone else. A spy takes a picture of them drinking a toast in a restaurant. The picture finds it way to the Red Chinese commandant who is holding Mr. Hoyt, (Gene Barry in an early role) prisoner. The commandant uses it to try to demoralize his prisoner but it also gets him to thinking that perhaps his wife deserves better than him and maybe she's found it.

The biggest weak points of the film are the suddenness of Lee and Mrs. Hoyt, (Hayward was in the competition for Scarlett O'Hara and probably would have made a good one), falling for each other and the ease which which Lee and a small band rescue Mr. Hoyt in a 20 minute finale. The strong points are Hong Kong, the performances of the cast, with strong leads and several excellent character actors and the deft way the desires of the main characters are incorporated into the script, leading to the 'reverse Casablanca' finale where Lee is again seen in his perch high above Hong Kong only to have Mrs. Hoyt get off the train to be with him.

CABLE RULES THE UNDERWORLD...!

[masonfisk · 7/10 · 7 March 2022]

Clark Gable & Susan Hayward headline this adventure/thriller from 1955. Hayward has arrived in Hong Kong to find her missing husband, played by Gene Barry, who is being held in a prison by the mainland government. Hoping to track him down on her own she first engages the British police force, run by Michael Rennie (from The Day the Earth Stood Still), who tells her in no certain terms he faces an uphill battle since there are too many obstacles in his way but he does mention a powerful gangster, Gable, who controls the majority of junk (the boats the water people use) movement in the province. Making her way through some fits & starts, she eventually gets entry to his estate (even getting a limo ride) meeting Gable who comes off as worldly & immensely charming (& who has a trio of Asian kids to boot) but seeing Hayward, it's clear what his motives are; he'll help her but she's the prize. Claiming she's still in love w/her hubby, she denies him & tries to continue the search only to be drugged & imprisoned by a known gambler in Macao which spurs Gable to go into action, even kidnapping Rennie to help. A tight narrative & Gable's righteous swagger puts this one in the winner circle w/director Edward Dymtryk (Murder, My Sweet/Crossfire) capturing the danger & allure of the exotic locale. Also starring Richard Loo (who I remember as the villainous Hai Fat in The Man w/the Golden Gun) as a Hong Kong professional travel guide.

Glorious Cinemascope and Gable but not much else

[pete36 · 7/10 · 2 February 2019]

Susan Hayward is looking for a way to free her hubby reporter imprisoned by the Chinese. She finds Gable in Hong Kong, as a high-flying smuggler, to lend her a hand.

This routine adventure flick is at times rather boring: there are too many characters and way too much talk. The real action only kicks off when the picture is more than halfway. Movie does stand out thanks to the glorious Cinemascope images and Clark Gable ofcourse who looks quite a bit older from his Rhett Butler days and more gruff then ever. But he is still quite believable as the tough guy (and womanizer) to the rescue. Not all that impressed by Susan Hayward whom I found bland and rather unsympathetic. There is also a good supporting role for Michael Rennie, as the classic good British copper. As said the action starts real late in the picture, exciting but not all that convincing (that big AA-gun doesn't seem to have any recoil).

Interesting fact : you can stream or download this movie for free from the official 20th Century Fox channel on Youtube. The original Cinemasope format is respected and the image is impeccable crystal clear. Looks great on a wide TV-screen !

Incredibly boring

[HotToastyRag · 1/10 · 8 August 2018]

Normally, with Hugo Friedhofer as orchestrator and Lionel Newman as conductor, I'd expect the music to be the most wonderful part of the movie. I could pay that compliment to Soldier of Fortune, except there was no wonderful aspect of this movie at all. The music could have had a pleasant theme if it were scored for The Best of Everything or Imitation of Life, but for a pseudo-mystery, pseudo-foreign intrigue drama, it didn't really fit.

With two powerhouse actors taking the lead, I'd expect wonderful romantic tension and great performances of a dramatic story. Ernest K. Gann's adaptation of his novel didn't translate very well on the screen, and while Clark Gable isn't given anything to do, Susan Hayward is given the wrong things to do. She plays a woman whose husband has gone missing, and she travels to his last known location, Hong Kong, to find him. From the second she makes her entrance, she doesn't act like a woman afraid for her husband's safety, or even wanting him to come back! She saunters into the room with her famous strut, capturing the eyes of every man, and calmly asks for information from bartenders, hotel clerks, and shopkeepers. When they're not helpful, she smiles and calmly thanks them. Also, she flirts with several men, not just Clark Gable. This is not the behavior of a woman concerned about her missing husband!

If ever you're in the mood for an incredibly boring, poorly acted, poorly written, boring drama that doesn't really cut it in the mystery genre, you can rent Soldier of Fortune. Otherwise, stick with Clark and Suzy's finest hours. This one's just painful to sit through.

A Man's Man; A Woman's Woman

[gdoempke · 10/10 · 3 September 2006]

One of the classics made in the 1950's, when Hollywood took you to exotic places with wonderful romances and great adventures. This movie is possibly Ernest K. Gann's best. Only competition is his High and the Mighty, but personally I have always admired Hank Lee and been in love with Jane Hoyt. Bigger than life characters, among a superb cast of wonderfully colorful characters. On her first viewing, my wife commented that there were parallels with Casablanca. My immediate response is that Hank Lee is no Rick Blaine. Hank is something else. A sensitive hero, but a go-getter, rather than a tortured soul. Despite the new skyline, this movie reminds you of the Chinese side of Hong Kong. The ride up the tram to Victoria Peak becomes something extra special after watching this movie. Pop up some corn, sit back, and escape into a world of great adventure.

Soldier of A Misfortune-Soldier of Fortune-At Least Hayward's A Jane Again **1/2

[edwagreen · 6/10 · 3 September 2009]

This film packs absolutely no excitement other than Michael Rennie excited over American cigarettes.

Susan Hayward is Jane again. Too bad it's not Froman-but rather Jane Hoyt, whose husband stepped into Communist China and can't get out. Jane comes to Hong Kong to find out what's going on and meets up with Gable, who is suspected of being a gangster, but British officer, Michael Rennie, can't get anything on him.

Hayward goes to Macao on a tip and her guide is soon escorted off the boat and hustled to Red China as well. We never know what happened to this poor guy.

When Gable and his crew go into China to rescue, Hoyt, a colorless Gene Barry, they encounter no opposition on the roads leading out. Not even a shot is fired. They get on the boats and encounter some machine guns with Hoyt taking a bullet to the arm. Suddenly loads of boats show up and all blend in on the seas.

Of course, Hayward and Gable have fallen in love so the question remains who she will choose. Remember how she took her vows for better or worse in "With A Song in My Heart?" If you can think of what happened to the marriage with David Wayne, you will get the answer.

Of course, it's 1955 so Hayward can be forgiven for this lackluster film as she shined so eloquently in "I'll Cry Tomorrow." that very year.

pale, dull attempt at grandeur

[drystyx · 2/10 · 19 May 2008]

This isn't one of the worst all time films, but it has nothing going for it. The heroine is a pale, lackluster sort, and it's strange that hero Clark Gable, surrounded by gorgeous Asians, would even glance at her, but he does. She searches for husband Gene Barry, who is a prisoner. Surprisingly, it is this meager, incredulous love triangle that is the only thing even remotely interesting in this movie. There is an attempt at action, and a lot of fist fighting and tough talk, but it is all very boring. No one cares. Plus, the lack of motivation makes it even more boring. This was "Fight Club" half a century earlier. There are also attempts at grand scenery, and over the top characters. One is supposed to think that the characters of the film hold the attention of everyone in the continent of Asia, all the time. No one knows why. No one cares. The grandeur and splendor is all hum drum and very weak.