Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

MartinHafer "Calcutta" is a strange sort of film. Although it's set in Calcutta, very little of the movie looks Indian! Heck, you mostly seem to see white folks and Chinese people running about in this weirdo Hollywood version of the place! So, at the outset the film loses a few points and the whole India angle is oddly missing...and incidentally, William Bendix plays a guy named Pedro!Early in the film, two pilots, Neale and Pedro (Alan Ladd and William Bendix) learn that their buddy had been murdered when they were out flying. Both vow to find out who it is and the picture follows Neale in his search. It first lands at the feet of Gail Russell--a girl the dead man was gaga about just before he was killed. They instantly hate each other and Neale doesn't trust her. Inexplicably, later they are in a clinch--which makes no sense in light of Neale's demeanor nor her just losing a boyfriend due to murder. What follows is never particularly interesting. I agree with another reviewer that the film mostly rests on Ladd's shoulders to carry, as the writing and production was otherwise pretty dull stuff. Not a bad movie but in no way would I consider this a good movie either due to the indifferent writing. In many ways, the film is actually a ripoff of the plot from "The Maltese Falcon"....without any of the interesting characters or twists.

rsda This film, which actually was one of Ladd's most financially successful films of the 40's, is a fun ride. Surprisingly, it's reputation has been one of a potboiler. It moves swiftly and has many good twists and turns. Gail Russell is wonderful and breathtakingly beautiful as the mysterious femme fatale. Alan Ladd was very well matched with Gail Russell. More so than Veronica Lake with her stony blonde beauty. The beautiful darkness of Russell and the Blonde Ladd was much more interesting. They were close friends and it shows in their two feature films together. A lot of the TV prints of this films have scenes missing that are crucial to the plot so if you can get a hold of a complete version of Calcutta you will be very lucky. A fun film from the 40's that you should try and catch up with.

bkoganbing The team of Alan Ladd and William Bendix, as good friends off the screen as is shown on the screen in Calcutta, is the only real reason to watch this potboiler of an adventure story. The version I saw had several minutes cut out of it that were crucial to the plot.Ladd and Bendix play a pair of pilots ferrying cargo and passengers from Chungking to Calcutta and back over the 'Hump' which is what the pilots in wartime called the Himalayas. The native people there more picturesquely called the mountain range, 'the roof of the world'. It was a dangerous run and these guys decided to keep doing it and make some money after World War II. You can see the flag of Nationalist Kuomintang China on their flight jackets.Anyway a third buddy of there's John Whitney greets them in Calcutta after a dangerous run in which cargo had to be dumped and announces he's getting married. Ladd who has a loose relationship with June Duprez, and Bendix both don't think terribly much of the idea, but congratulate him anyway.The next day Whitney is strangled in the streets of Calcutta and Ladd and Bendix like in The Blue Dahlia the previous year are on the trail of the culprit. The first stop is Whitney's fiancé, pretty Gail Russell, who knows a lot more than she's telling. Let's just say that a whole lot of pilots are being made out to be saps.Tremendous events were going in both India and China at the time that Paramount was making Calcutta on their sound-stage yet from the story you would never know it. No hint at all is made about the Communist insurgency in China and in India you would think the British Raj was going to last another hundred years. Not one word about it in this potboiler of a plot which the Films of Alan Ladd says resembles Terry And The Pirates.Probably Calcutta would have been a lot better had we seen more of Bendix in the film. That's always good for any picture. However he gets to try and earn a living for the two of them while Ladd stays in Calcutta to solve the mystery. However it's Bendix who hears something from merchant Paul Singh that he tells Ladd about that starts the whole thing to unravel. Later on Bendix runs some interference with the British police that allows Ladd to stay free and solve the case.Calcutta is so typical of the potboiler films Ladd did and carried on the strength of his personality. It hasn't much else to recommend it.

shemp47-1 I like Alan Ladd but this is one of his weakest films. No plot. No excitement. Gail Russell is attractive but couldn't act if her life depended on it. She has the same facial expression throughout the film regardless of the scene. When she's told her fiancé has been murdered-no expression. When she's making out with Alan Ladd- no expression. If only Veronica Lake had been available. Ladd is always good. This was still at a time when they had him take off his shirt in every movie. And the Calcutta we see is entity on the Paramount backlot. Maybe with some decent writing, some villains, maybe a plot, this could have been something Quite a bore.