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Across the Pacific (1942). An espionage story about court-martialed and dishonorably discharged former Army Lieutenant Rick Leland (Humphrey Bogart) trying to woo Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor) while, at the same time, interfering with Dr. Lorenz' (Sydney Greenstreet) plans to help the Japanese destroy the Panama Canal. Bogart is Bogart, Greenstreet is Greenstreet, and Mary Astor delivers a surprisingly natural performance in an otherwise by-the-numbers movie filled with horribly stereotyped Japanese characters. Enjoyable, but could have been better.
Action in the North Atlantic (1943). Lt. Joe Rossi (Humphrey Bogart) is the first officer of a commercial ship which is sunk by a German U-Boat. After spending 11 days adrift, he and the crew are rescued and subsequently hired to crew a Merchant Marine ship that is part of a large convoy bound for Murmansk. When the ship gets separated from the convoy, Rossi and his shipmates play a cat-and-mouse game with the same submarine crew that sank their previous ship. With a cast that includes Raymond Massey, Alan Hale, Dane Clark, Ruth Gordon, and a host of Warner Brothers' contract players, Bogart may have gotten top billing but the movie is really an ensemble piece that is better executed than Across the Pacific, and is in my opinion a more satisfying movie. Also, unlike Across the Pacific, the German submariners are not stereotyped, but presented as military sailors simply doing what they're supposed to do--seek out and sink ships carrying supplies to their enemies.
Clearly, I thought Action in the North Atlantic was the better of the two movies, but they're both worth seeing if you have the opportunity.
Action in the North Atlantic (1943). Lt. Joe Rossi (Humphrey Bogart) is the first officer of a commercial ship which is sunk by a German U-Boat. After spending 11 days adrift, he and the crew are rescued and subsequently hired to crew a Merchant Marine ship that is part of a large convoy bound for Murmansk. When the ship gets separated from the convoy, Rossi and his shipmates play a cat-and-mouse game with the same submarine crew that sank their previous ship. With a cast that includes Raymond Massey, Alan Hale, Dane Clark, Ruth Gordon, and a host of Warner Brothers' contract players, Bogart may have gotten top billing but the movie is really an ensemble piece that is better executed than Across the Pacific, and is in my opinion a more satisfying movie. Also, unlike Across the Pacific, the German submariners are not stereotyped, but presented as military sailors simply doing what they're supposed to do--seek out and sink ships carrying supplies to their enemies.
Clearly, I thought Action in the North Atlantic was the better of the two movies, but they're both worth seeing if you have the opportunity.
