TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
US, 1948, 107 minutes, Black and white.
Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, Ludwig Donath, V1adimir Sokoloff, Edgar Barrier.
Directed by Robert Stevenson.
To The Ends of the Earth is an entertaining melodrama of the '40s. While set in the '30s, it has an atmosphere of authenticity and contemporary concern. It focuses on drug smuggling and the links all over the world.
The film focuses on Dick Powell as a government agent, his leads and contacts, his going to China, to Egypt, to Cuba in a quest to expose a drug ring. The film is crisp in its style, no-nonsense action drama. Dick Powell had moved from being a musical star into this kind of drama (as Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, in thrillers like Cornered). Signe Hasso is the ambiguous heroine. There are many suspicious characters, complicated detection. The film keeps its pace and excitement - with the revelation of the unexpected (perhaps) controller of the drug-ring unmasked at the end.
Direction is by Robert Stevenson who directed many dramas in the '40s and '50s but was most successful as a Disney director in the '609~and '70s (his films include Mary Poppins).
1. An interesting and exciting drama? Action? Government agents? Drug rings? A film of its time? Impact later? (And still comparatively relevant?)
2. Black and white photography? American locations, China, Egypt, Cuba? Action at sea? Editing and pace? Devices for illustrating the journey to the ends of the earth? Musical score?
3. The title and its focus on the work of American government agents? The drug rings and their international links?
4. The documentary style of the film popular in the late '40s? Voice-over commentaries? Names and dates for authenticity?
5. Michael Burrows as the government agent? His work in the United States? His reputation? The experience of the Japanese freighter and seeing the slaves being pushed overboard? His journey to Shanghai? Reporting the case to officials?, Dissatisfaction? His contacts with the anti-narcotic agents? His following of leads? The source of the slave market? The information about the narcotic gang? The hunt in Shanghai and the deaths? The encounter with Ann Grant and Shu Pan Wu? His attraction? The information in Shanghai and his move towards Egypt? The authorities in Egypt? The information about the cotton plantations, contacts, elimination of possibilities? The mission and the scaling of the cliff? The unmasking of the ring? The further suicides of the agents? The discovery of the link with Ann Grant? The move to Lebanon? The transport of the drugs? The decision to go to Cuba? The detection for getting possibilities? The suspicious group on board?, The focus on the potential ringleader? Burrows coming out into the open? The drama in the kitchen? The time factor, the discovery of the method of getting rid of the drugs? The Harbor Patrol? The final confrontation with Ann? The revelation that Shu Pan Wu was the leader? The violent confrontation? The success of his mission? The romantic prospect at the end?
6. The range of involvement of international couriers, growers of the poppies, the cultivation of crops, shipping, passengers covering for transporting the drugs, the devices to get the drugs on board ship, the cooks and the disposal of the drugs through the garbage, the recovery of the drugs in New York Harbor? The sketch of the various people involved? Their being prepared to kill themselves to avoid being unmasked?
7. Ann Grant and her presence in Shanghai, missionary role, chaperoning Shu Pan Wu? Suspicions about her husband? Her seeming involvement in the drug ring? Her associates? The photo in Egypt and her being linked with the ring? The voyage from Cuba to the United States? Her presence on the ship, the associates? Burrows' uncertainty as to her guilt? The contrast with Shu Pan Wu and her girlish charm, her dependence, her sudden ruthlessness when unmasked?
8. The film showing American authorities, the combating of drugs and their production, importation? The interest in a drug theme by comparison with the drug experience of the 1970s and 1980s, gangsters, production and couriers?
