Across The Pacific

Alberta Marlow isn't looking for wealth. "I can do without it," she says. "You stick around with me and you're going to get plenty of practice," Rick Leland replies. She also gets danger and intrigue, because Humphrey Bogart plays U.S. counterspy Rick in this crisply written wartime thriller. "The part is a combination of acid and comedy, a bit like his role in The Maltese Falcon," longtime studio insider Robert Lord said when he recommended Bogey for the role of Rick. Rick trades romantic barbs with Alberta (Mary Astor), matches wits with sly Lorenz (Sydney Greenstreet) and swaps bullets with saboteurs of the Panama Canal. The Maltese Falcon's John Huston directs this reunion of three of that movie's stars. And once again, the parlay of stars and director comes up a winner.