They Met in Bombay

Plot: a jewel thief and a con artist are rivals in the theft of a valuable gem as the Japanese army invades China. Much more glamorous and romantic were Arsène Lupin or the jewel thieves with plenty of class, style and pizzazz in ¨Raffles,¨"Trouble in Paradise," and "Grand Hotel,"

The time-worn cliche of the glamorous, romantic jewel thief can be charming when done with a touch of class, as in "Trouble in Paradise," "Grand Hotel," or "I Was An Adventuress." Here, it's handled with so little taste or imagination it positively degrades the profession. We're given to understand that Gable and Russell are just nice kids down on their luck, and the sundry larcenies they engage in are just playful antics they'll grow out of as soon as they've stolen enough money to settle down in that little cottage with roses round the door. Come ON. Even more appalling are the hideous false "Chinese" eyelids Peter Lorre is forced to wear, which would have been good for his role as the burn victim in "The Face Behind the Mask" but here just add to the general aura of gauche insensitivity.

Gable and Rosalind Russell play a couple of jewel thieves who meet in ..... well, guess where, and keep running into each other thereafter. It's a fairly formulaic film carried on the charms of the leads; director Clarence Brown can't overcome the MGM gloss to provide the screwball details that the first half of the film really needs, although Peter Lorre as a shady and unctuous tramp steamer captain is a lot of fun. I have the feeling Miss Russell replaced Myrna Loy at some stage in the production and the first couple of reels show damage. Clarence Brown directs the comedy bits for everyone but the two leads, a telling indictment of his opinion of their chops. Even worse, William H. Daniel's high-lit camerawork makes Miss Russell look a trifle jowly.

I don't think I have ever seen Clark Gable in a bad movie, or with a sub par performance and this 1941 black and white film is no exception. Gable maintains his swagger throughout as Gerald Meldrick, a con man with a quick wit and an endless supply of phony names and costumes, but he is eventually positively influenced by his new romantic partner in crime Anya Von Duren (Rosalind Russell) and he finds himself outmatched when it comes down to the crunch to continue living a life of crime always on the move at a moments notice to avoid the authorities, or to do the right thing and fight for his country. The film has a bit of romance, a bit of comedy, a bit of a con job and a lot of charm. I give it a highly respectable 8 out of 10 IMDB rating. It is the type of film that is over before you want it to be finished. It is quite entertaining even some eight (80) years later. I must be an old soul because I just love these TCM movies.

This movie turned out to be a pleasant surprise because i wasn't that interested in seeing out and it turned out to be one of Gable's better pictures. The movie was directed by Clarence Brown who has worked with Gable several times before in movies like Possessed and Idiot's Delight. Both Gable and Rosalind Russell are professional thieves who are interested in stealing a very expensive necklace worth millions of dollars. Once they finally have it and think they are going to get away they find the police on their tail the entire way. They wind up on a boat going to Hong Kong with Peter Lorre as the captain who only cares about money and tries to turn them in for the reward. Once they arrive in Hong Kong the movie takes an unexpected turn and Gable winds up becoming a military hero. It's a pretty good movie and probably one of Gable's best.

This film is rather formulaic. Clark plays an international con man thief who falls in love with a female version of himself (Ms. Russell). While this certainly doesn't break any new ground and is a very predictable by-the-numbers MGM production, you are still left with a movie that is great fun but won't change your life. I, for one, love films like this. That's because I like the formula--as did the rest of America at the time. That's because despite its short-comings the film was dripping with quality. Both actors are at the top of their game, the writing and dialog is snappy fun and the direction is on target. All-in-all, a lot of fun and sure to please fans of this genre.