His Kind of Woman (1951) is a film in search of a genre. Is it noir? Swashbuckler? Romance? Comedy? Or what? Early on, the hero (Robert Mitchum) is beaten up in typical noir fashion, off camera with lots of thumps and some shadows. Then he meets a beautiful woman (Jane Russell), and it's instant lust. Eventually, a brave rescue at sea is reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Overlong at two hours, the first hour moseys along, introducing characters and trying to find the point. Nevertheless, the film manages to hold interest because Mitchum, as professional gambler Dan Milner, is an interesting character.

Mobster Nick Ferraro (Raymond Burr) has been deported to Italy and he wants nothing more than to return to the United States. So he contrives an elaborate scheme, involving a clueless Mitchum in his skullduggery. Most of the action takes place in a Mexican resort, where the guests include a chess-playing loner, a vacationing stockbroker (Jim Backus), buffoonish movie star Mark Cardigan (Vincent Price), femme fatale Lenore Brent (Jane Russell), and Milner, who interacts with them all, wondering which, if any, is the contact he's been paid to meet.

Lenore has been pursuing Cardigan who is separated from his wife until she changes her mind about the divorce and shows up at the resort. How times have changed. Cardigan's business manager warns him that a divorce could ruin his career! Meanwhile, Lenore and Milner begin a flirtation as the plot gets murkier. At last the "bad guys" show up, murder a federal agent and kidnap Milner. Cardigan, the swashbuckling movie star apparently believes his hype and sets out to rescue our hero. There's some comedy and a tad edge-of-your-seat nail biting, but it all works out well in the end - except for the villains.

His Kind of Woman is part of Warner Home Video's Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 that also includes Border Incident, Lady in the Lake, On Dangerous Ground and The Racket. Don't take His Kind of Woman too seriously and you'll enjoy it, so will teens. There's too much implied violence for the youngsters.

Special Features

• Commentary by film historian Vivian Sobchack, Professor of Film and TV at UCLA. Among the interesting tidbits she offers is the fact that Raymond Burr's scenes as the gangster were added later and almost a third of the film had to be reshot.

Director: John Farrow

Screenplay: Frank Fenton and Jack Leonard

Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell,  Vincent Price,PhilipVan Zandt  

Rating: Not Rated. Acceptable for older children

Classic Movie Guide Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

DVD Release Date: 7/16/2006

Run Time: 120 minutes

Studio: Warner Home Video

Format: Black & White, dual-layer format

Photo credits: Warner Home Video