Soldier Of Fortune
released 1955
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“Soldier Of Fortune” is an American, romantic, action, political drama film produced by Buddy Adler and directed by Edward Dmytryk. It is based on the novel by Ernest K. Gann who also wrote the screenplay. It stars two of Hollywood´s greatest actors Clark Gable and Susan Hayward. Other members of the cast include Michael Rennie, Gene Barry, Alexander D´Arcy, Tom Tully, Anna Sten, Russell Collins, Leo Gordon, Richard Loo, Soo Yong, Frank Tang, Jack Kruschen, Mel Welles, Grace Chang, David Chow, James Hong, William Yip, Victor Sen Yung, Jean Wong, Barbara Jean Wong, Trevor Ward, George Wallace, Noel Toy, Kam Tong, Walter Soo Hoo, Louis Serrano, Jack Raine, Virginia Lee, Eddie Lee, Alan Lee, Mike Lally, Robert Burton, George Chan and many others.

Soldier Of Fortune IMDb webpage

Soldier Of Fortune Amazon webpage

“Soldier Of Fortune” is the story of a kidnapped journalist named Louis Hoyt, played by Gene Barry, whose wife Jane, played by Susan Hayward, goes looking for him. Jane comes all the way to Hong Kong to rescue her husband who is presumed to be imprisoned or even dead on the Chinese mainland. Along the way she meets the shipping magnate a.k.a smuggler, Hank Lee, played by none other than Clark Gable. Hank is very helpful to Jane and he soon falls in love with her in spite of the fact she is married.  They both are a lot alike. Hank is a straight shooter, risk taker who treats the people around him with respect and gets that respect in return. Jane is the same with just a touch more stubbornness than Hank. I particularly liked the scene where Hank shows Jane his terrace view of a thunderstorm. They end up travelling from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland and risk being captured by the Chinese authorities to save Louis. The story has a very nice ending too.

This is such a good movie in spite of the fact it was made so long ago. The political situations and tensions between Hong Kong, the British, the French, the Portuguese, the Americans and the Chinese has largely diminished since 1955 so viewers today might not fully grasp what is going on but that does not keep it from being a good film. There´s no modern technology but that doesn´t keep it from being a great film either, because this is ultimately a movie about people. It´s about the man or woman who takes risks for what they value in life.

I definitely encourage people to check this film out because it really is a gem. Clark Gable does such a good job as Hank and Susan Hayward is a great Jane. They are the mirror image of each other. I have to also say that the screenplay is fantastic. What a great film!

John

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