If you enjoy film noir, you'll find this very entertaining. Bob Mitchum and Jane Russell teamed up for two of these thrillers for RKO, "HKOW" in 1951 and they followed it up with "Macao" the next year. Both play similar characters, Mitchum is a drifter and a loner in both, Jane is a nightclub singer in "Macao" in "HKOW" she is pretending to be a wealthy heiress(who also happens to sing)but actually is a gold digger, having her sights set on the famous actor Mark Cardigan, played hilariously by Vincent Price. Bob and Jane meet in a cantina in a Mexican border town and share a plane to a resort called the Morros on the Baja coast. Jane is supposed to meet Cardigan there, while Mitchum has been hired by the mob to go there so his identity can be stolen by mob boss Nick Ferrraro (Raymond Burr)No need to get too wound up with the details of the plot, it's fun just to sit back and enjoy some old familiar faces in this. Charles McGraw, one of the more underrated dramatic actors of the era delivers a solid performance as one of the mob guys. Jim Backus, who would later entertain us as Mr. Magoo & Thurston Howell, provides laughs as a resort guest, Tim Holt drops in as an undercover Fed agent and Philip van Vandt, veteran bad guy of the Shemp era Three Stooges shorts is the owner of the resort. But Price steals every scene as a egotistical and hammy actor who actually leads the rescue of Mitchum from the mob. Mitchum is cool as always and Jane Russell, at pinnacle of her career, is sexy and funny. Unfortunately, that peak only had about 3-4 more years at the top and by the end of the decade just was virtually done in movies...too bad. My only complaint is that they stretched out the rescue scene way too long as it alternated between being serious drama on the ship, as Mitchum is about to be tortured by Burr and his mob henchman, to chaotic comedy as Price is trying to organize to hapless local federales into a posse to rescue Mitchum.

(58%) A more glamorous example of film noir that ranks among the best, without necessarily being a true contender to the very best. The plot is decent, without it being exactly what most would call riveting, mainly because it's just too baggy by about half an hour. The two leads though in Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell are quite simply stars that you just don't get any more. Russell in particular looks otherworldly, and she is at least given something to do with a good portion of lines, plot relevance, and a couple of songs to sing. Which is nice. Vincent Price is a great addition in support, and the closing scenes are both action packed and quite funny. Well worth a look for fans of classics, but it may be too slack for the more modern film fan.

A down-on-his-luck Mitchum is bribed to go to Mexico where he meets an assortment of characters, including a menacing Raymond Burr.According to TMC, studio honcho Howard Hughes was greatly impressed by Vincent Price and insisted that his part be expanded. It was, in spades, resulting unfortunately in two movies in one. The first half is pretty fair noir with the two icons Mitchum and Russell traipsing around a sound-stage Mexico. The second half, however, is little short of a mess, due to Price who appears to have been ordered onto the wrong set with the wrong script. Somehow, Russell has dropped out of sight, and in her place we get a Shakespeare spouting slice of ham, Price, who I guess is supposed to be funny. The intercutting between Mitchum being tortured and Price doing slapstick is almost like sticking the Three Stooges into the middle of a Nazi interrogation. If this is supposed to be clever satire of movie heroics, as some apologists claim, then I wish I could stop cringing.It might be interesting to know what the screenwriters originally had in mind (apparently, there were six of them, probably four doing re-writes to please kingpin Hughes). But the result is near incoherence and the waste of a noir icon and an Amazon princess. More damningly, it's the best argument I've seen in awhile for keeping the suits in their offices and as far from the set as possible.

I'm not sure how well it has aged, which is a bit of a shame, seeing as this is a rather delightful picture. As a film noir, is is distinctive in that there is more heart and spirit than one might expect. The film is also part romance, part comedy giving His Kind of Woman a fresh and riveting taste, Robert Mitchum is Slick, JAne Russell is Dazzling and Vincent Price is quite funny actually in a role that to a degree parodies his earlier work. The story is a little murky to get started but it ends up coming together. The ending is a little off in that it is built partically around actions that deny common sense, but in the long run, It's not too bothersome. the movie ends in spectacular fashion, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Full of thrills and kills and kisses, In the end, His Kind of Woman is a recommendable classic