Macao

Nicholas Ray was brought on to finish this atmospheric crime yarn after the movie's producer, Howard Hughes, forced Josef von Sternberg off the project. But Macao still shimmers with its initial director's signature textures and tones: dresses and gloves sheathed in glitter; an Escher-like casino; a pier-set finale that recalls The Docks of New York. It was, by all accounts, an unpleasant, tumultuous production. The final movie, though, is surprisingly buoyant -- a shimmering cinematic vacation. As a gangster's moll entangled in the lives of an American runaway (Robert Mitchum) and a singer (Jane Russell), Grahame circles around the edges of the movie, occasionally sending off a flash of light from the shadows.