Tonight's Movie: Saigon (1947) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

SAIGON (1947), the only film starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake not previously available for home viewing, has just been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

Ladd and Lake's other films for Paramount, THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942), THE GLASS KEY (1942), and THE BLUE DAHLIA (1946), have long been available. Even VARIETY GIRL (1947), an all-star film in which they both appeared, has been released on VHS and DVD.

SAIGON has been out on a Region 2 DVD in Europe, but I'm not sure why it has not previously been released in the U.S.

In SAIGON Ladd plays Major Larry Briggs, who receives his release from army service along with his friends Captain Mike Perry (Douglas Dick) and Sergeant Pete Rocco (Wally Cassell).

The men are discharged in Shanghai, and rather than go back to the U.S. they decide to have a good time in Southeast Asia for a few weeks. Larry and Pete are aware that Mike is unlikely to live much longer due to a brain injury, but they keep the news from Mike. Mike doesn't have any family waiting back home, and his pals are determined to give him a good time.

Larry signs the trio up for a high-paying job flying a plane to Saigon for businessman Alex Maris (Morris Carnovsky), which will finance Mike's last few weeks.

When they're due to take off, Maris's secretary Susan (Lake) shows up at the airfield with a briefcase, but her boss is absent and shooting in the distance indicates he's unlikely to make the flight. The three men and Susan take off; it's a bumpy trip, but ultimately the quartet arrives in Saigon, where intrigue and romance await.

SAIGON, it must be admitted, is only so-so, especially compared to Ladd and Lake's three previous films. The movie's biggest problem is the repetitive script by P.J. Wolfson and Arthur Sheekman, based on a story by Julian Zimet.

The screenplay recycles the main points over and over, as Ladd and Lake bicker far too long while he nobly tries to let Mike romance her and various parties try to figure out if Ladd or Lake is carrying some of Maris's money.

Still, any time spent with Ladd and Lake is time well spent; they're compelling personalities, and they're also at the height of their physical appeal here, with Lake gowned by Edith Head. When they finally admit to feelings for one another late in the film, the chemistry is as combustible as always. Ladd and Lake were simply a marvelous team in every way, and I only wish it had been in the cards for them to make more movies together.

Among the supporting cast, Luther Adler is particularly enjoyable as a friendly police lieutenant, and it's also good to see character actor Griff Barnett in the opening scene. Dick is fairly bland as the good guy who crushes on Lake but doesn't know he's not long for this world, while Cassell registers believably as the army sergeant.

Although much of the film seems to have been made on a fairly low budget, at least until the characters arrive at a nice hotel, there's atmospheric black and white cinematography by John F. Seitz. This is a good spot to also mention I particularly liked the opening credits design which does a great job setting the film's mood.

This 93-minute film was directed by Leslie Fenton.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray print is from a new HD master from a 2K scan of the 35mm original fine grain. Especially considering the poor quality of "grey market" prints which have long been the only way to see the film, the Blu-ray looks and sounds very good. Ladd and Lake fans will definitely want to pick it up.  The film may not be top-drawer Ladd and Lake, but it's good enough; I will definitely watch it again.

The film is presented as a Special Edition with cardboard slipcase; the trailer; a gallery of nine additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Elissa Rose and the late Lee Gambin.

Note: Sharp-eyed readers may notice some sites list SAIGON's release year as 1947, while others list 1948. The reason is that there was a UK premiere in December 1947 which preceded the United States release in March 1948.

Sincere thanks to Kino Lorber for making this film available in the U.S. at long last!

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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