His Kind of Woman (1951)
In Casablanca (1942), it is said that “Everybody comes to Rick’s.” In His Kind of Woman (1951), it could be said that “Everybody comes to Morro’s Lodge.” The imaginary Mexican resort, located in Baja California, is the primary location for the film; and it houses dozens of familiar character actors, as well as enough storylines and diverse tones for five normal movies. However, while His Kind of Woman is an “odd duck” mishmash of film noir, comedy, action, and romance (with a few musical numbers thrown in for good measure), all taking place under this singular locale, it holds together surprisingly well, and it is never anything but incredibly entertaining.
The film stars Robert Mitchum (at the peak of his handsomeness and icy cool) as Dan Milner, a professional gambler who is at a low financial ebb when he receives a mysterious offer to leave the country “no questions asked” for $50,000. Out of curiosity and nothing better to do, Milner accepts the first part of the payment and is flown to Baja. Sharing the flight is an ambitious girl singer, Lenore Brent (the lucious Jane Russell), who quickly begins a flirtation with Milner, full of snappy noirish back and forth patter. Lenore is heading to Morro’s Lodge in order to meet up with hammy, self-absorbed, swashbuckling movie star and hunting enthusiast, Mark Cardigan (Vincent Price at his campiest and funniest), who she hopes to marry for his money. Unknown to her, Cardigan still has an estranged wife (Marjorie “The Times of Their Lives” Reynolds), who also shows up at Morro’s, to the surprise of both Lenore and Cardigan.
The resort also plays host to character actors Jim “Thurston Howell III” Backus as a lascivious card sharp with eyes on a newlywed (Leslie Banning), Tim “Georgie Minafer” Holt as a federal agent, and noir regular Charles McGraw as (what else?) a gangster’s thug. We meet all of them and several others before the “big bad” Raymond Burr arrives at the resort as deported gangster Nick Ferraro, who is at the center of the mystery as to why Dan Milner was paid off to come to leave the country.
His Kind of Woman had a legendarily troubled shoot, due to the demands of indecisive producer Howard Hughes. After filming was basically complete, under credited director John Farrow, Hughes brought in Richard Fleischer to rewrite and reshoot the majority of the film and to inject more humor. As a result, the final film is a melange of disparate elements. Part of the film is a hard-nosed noir, with some fairly sadistic violence and action, led by Raymond Burr as a seething, maniacal menace. Then there is the romance, with Mitchum and Russell displaying incredible chemistry as the extraordinarily well-matched lovers (they even look a little alike). Finally (and most happily), the third act of the flick devolves into broad farce, as Vincent Price’s ham actor turns hero, leading a band of reluctant Mexican police and inexperienced civilians into battle against the gangsters to save his new friend (and full-on bromance) Milner. Price completely steals the film, donning a cape and spouting Shakespeare, as he dispatches the baddies. It is a comic performance for the ages.
With so many competing elements, His Kind of Woman shouldn’t work at all. However, for some reason the disparate tones just add up to extra fun, rather than subtracting from each other. At a slightly bloated 120 minutes, His Kind of Woman is basically five films rolled into one, but they’re all great fun. This one is not to be missed.
USA/B&W-120m./Dir: John Farrow (and uncredited) Richard Fleischer/Wr: Frank Fenton and Jack Leonard/Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Tim Holt, Charle McGraw, Marjorie Reynolds, Raymond Burr, Jim Backus, Leslie Banning, Philip Van Zandt
For Fans of: While His Kind of Woman is none of the three leads’ best film, if you like their best work — Mitchum’s Out of the Past (1947), Russell’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and Price’s The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) — I think you’ll find His Kind of Woman extremely enjoyable.
Video: His Kind of Woman is available as a standalone DVD from the Warner Archive Collection. It can also be purchased within the box set Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket). Unfortunately, the film is not currently available on Blu-ray.
Streaming: As I write this review, His Kind of Woman is currently streaming as part of a subscription to FilmStruck.
More to Explore: If you enjoy His Kind of Woman, you’ll probably enjoy other noir/comedy mashups such as All Through the Night (1942) and Beat the Devil (1953).
Trivia: Lee Van Cleef was originally cast in the role of the main baddie, Nick Ferraro. However, producer Howard Hughes didn’t like his performance, and ordered that his scenes be reshot with a different actor. Robert J. Wilke was hired to fll the role, but two-thirds of the way through reshoots, Hughes saw a film with Raymond Burr, and insisted that the scenes be redone again with Burr as Ferraro. All of the reshoots ended up costing about $850,000 to complete, which was just a little more than the $825,000 the film eventually lost at the box office.
For More Info: There is a full chapter on His Kind of Woman in Gary J. Svehla and Susan Svehla’s Midnight Marquee Actors Series: Vincent Price.
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