| Photos (see all 12 | slideshow) |
| Robert Mitchum | ... | Nick Cochran | |
| Jane Russell | ... | Julie Benson | |
| William Bendix | ... | Lawrence C. Trumble | |
| Thomas Gomez | ... | Lt. Sebastian | |
| Gloria Grahame | ... | Margie | |
| Brad Dexter | ... | Vincent Halloran | |
| Edward Ashley | ... | Martin Stewart | |
| Philip Ahn | ... | Itzumi | |
| Vladimir Sokoloff | ... | Kwan Sum Tang | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Everett Glass | ... | Garcia (unconfirmed) | |
| Abdullah Abbas | ... | Arabian (uncredited) | |
| Rico Alaniz | ... | Bus driver (uncredited) | |
| Trevor Bardette | ... | Alvaris (uncredited) | |
| Genevieve Bell | ... | Woman passenger (uncredited) | |
| Truman Bradley | ... | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | |
| George Chan | ... | Chinese photographer (uncredited) | |
| W.T. Chang | ... | Old fisherman (uncredited) | |
| Spencer Chan | ... | Hood (uncredited) | |
| John Daheim | ... | Det. Lt. Daniel Lombardy (uncredited) | |
| Art Dupuis | ... | Portuguese pilot (uncredited) | |
| Lee Tung Foo | ... | Merchant (uncredited) | |
| Nacho Galindo | ... | Bus driver (uncredited) | |
| H.W. Gim | ... | Sampan pilot (uncredited) | |
| Phil Harron | ... | Sikh (uncredited) | |
| Sheldon Jett | ... | Dutch tourist (uncredited) | |
| Harold J. Kennedy | ... | Drunken lecherous salesman (uncredited) | |
| Marc Krah | ... | Desk clerk (uncredited) | |
| Tommy H. Lee | ... | Chinese victim (uncredited) | |
| James B. Leong | ... | Hood (uncredited) | |
| Weaver Levy | ... | Chang (uncredited) | |
| Alex Montoya | ... | Bartender (uncredited) | |
| Walter Ng | ... | Fisherman (uncredited) | |
| Manuel París | ... | Bartender (uncredited) | |
| Emory Parnell | ... | Ship's captain (uncredited) | |
| Alfredo Santos | ... | Hood (uncredited) | |
| May Takasugi | ... | The barber (uncredited) | |
| Philip Van Zandt | ... | Customs official (uncredited) | |
| Michael Visaroff | ... | Russian doorman (uncredited) | |
| Iris Wong | ... | Croupier (uncredited) | |
| William Yip | ... | Rickshaw driver (uncredited) | |
| Maria Sen Young | ... | Croupier (uncredited) | |
| Don Zelaya | ... | Gimpy (piano player) (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Josef von Sternberg | |||
| Mel Ferrer | (uncredited) | ||
| Nicholas Ray | (uncredited) | ||
| Robert Stevenson | (uncredited) | ||
Writing credits | ||
| Bernard C. Schoenfeld | (screenplay) and | |
| Stanley Rubin | (screenplay) | |
| Robert Creighton Williams | (story) (as Bob Williams) | |
| George Bricker | uncredited | |
| Edward Chodorov | uncredited | |
| Norman Katkov | uncredited | |
| Frank L. Moss | uncredited | |
| Walter Newman | dialogue (uncredited) | |
Produced by | |||
| Samuel Bischoff | .... | executive producer | |
| Alex Gottlieb | .... | producer | |
| Howard Hughes | .... | executive producer (uncredited) | |
Original Music by | |||
| Anthony Collins | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Harry J. Wild | (director of photography) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Samuel E. Beetley | |||
| Robert Golden | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Ralph Berger | |||
| Albert S. D'Agostino | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Harley Miller | |||
| Darrell Silvera | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Michael Woulfe | (gowns) | ||
Makeup Department | |||
| Mel Berns | .... | makeup artist | |
| Larry Germain | .... | hair stylist | |
Production Management | |||
| Jerry Wald | .... | production supervisor: additional photography (uncredited) | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| James E. Casey | .... | assistant director: additional photography (uncredited) | |
| Richard Davol | .... | second unit director (uncredited) | |
| William Dorfman | .... | assistant director: additional photography (uncredited) | |
| Lowell J. Farrell | .... | assistant director (uncredited) | |
Art Department | |||
| Keye Luke | .... | painter: murals (uncredited) | |
| Edward Vorkapich | .... | sketch artist (uncredited) | |
Sound Department | |||
| Clem Portman | .... | sound | |
| Earl A. Wolcott | .... | sound (as Earl Wolcott) | |
Music Department | |||
| C. Bakaleinikoff | .... | musical director | |
| Hugh Martin | .... | vocal arranger | |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Film-Noir section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |
Josef von Sternberg began Macao (and copped the directorial credit), but Nicholas Ray finished it. Nonetheless, it abounds with Sternberg's branded flounces and fetishes. As in Shanghai Express and The Shanghai Gesture, he trowels on the Orientalism in thick impasto (Sternberg could have made the best Charlie Chan movie of them all).
A nighttime chase through the Macao docks opens the movie (to be rhymed near its conclusion): A white-suited European is pursued by knife-throwing Chinese thugs; he falls in the water when one blade finds its mark. A badge filched from him pocket shows him to be a police detective.
Into this world of Asian intrigue sails a boat from Hong Kong, just 35 miles up the coast. On it is the motley crew of salesman William Bendix, drifter Robert Mitchum and mysterious woman Jane Russell, who lifts Mitchum's wallet. Sans passport, Mitchum comes to the attention of the Macao police chief (Thomas Gomez), who reports the suspicious stranger to gambling kingpin Brad Dexter. Dexter assumes Mitchum is a cop he knows to be on his way to extradite him back to Hong Kong....
It's a playfully plotted adventure story. Russell gets a gig singing at Dexter's club in eye-popping gowns which actually aren't any more provocative than the black-and-white daytime outfits she traipses around in, wielding a parasol. She fares better than Gloria Grahame, as Dexter's moll, looking washed out and largely wasted (though she puts her distinctive spin on a couple of lines). Mitchum by this time has done this role the lippy but laconic reluctant hero so often he could do it in his sleep, which, given his hooded eyes, may be the truth of the matter.
Macao is an utterly shallow film done with energy and style. The plotting remains perfunctory, but the play of shadows throughout remains transfixing especially in the set-piece near the end, again on the dark waterfront, with ropes and nets casting their creepy spell. And the movie provides Russell with one of her few opportunities to flaunt her real, if narrow, talents: in addition to the statuesque figure that caught Howard Hughes' eye, she had spunk and sass. That's what Sternberg saw, and he fell for it. We do, too.