Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gene Tierney, Lee J. Cobb, Agnes Moorehead, E.G. Marshall
Release Year: 1955
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
Humphrey Bogart stars in this improbable tale that marked Gene Tierney's return to the screen after battling mental illness for a number of years. Bogart plays Jim Carmody, an American soldier of fortune who, after crashing his plane in China, takes up with the Chinese warlord General Yang (Lee J. Cobb). Jim becomes Yang's advisor, but after watching one of the General's flunkies brutally kill a priest, Jim decides to leave. Unfortunately, Yang has declared that any deserter will be shot. Disguising himself as the slain priest, Jim sneaks out of the General's headquarters and makes his way to a mountain village where missionaries Beryl (Agnes Moorehead) and David (E.G. Marshall) take him in. Jim still is posing as the priest but his vows of celibacy are challenged when he falls in love with the attractive mission nurse Anne Scott (Gene Tierney). Anne feels ashamed because she is also attracted to him, but Jim writes to the bishop confessing that he is an impostor. At that moment, General Yang arrives, insisting that Jim rejoin his army or else he will burn down the village. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
The Left Hand of God is an uneven film that can definitely be classified as "good" -- and yet while one watches it, one continually expects it to move beyond "good" and into "great," resulting in disappointment when it resolutely refuses to do so. There are some clear reasons why it fails to make this leap, such as the unfortunate miscasting of Lee J. Cobb as the Chinese warlord. While it was certainly common to cast Caucasian actors in Asian roles at the time, Cobb's miscasting goes beyond skin color; he simply can't convincingly convey the character as written. He does all he can to tell us he is menacing and dangerous and conniving, but it doesn't ring true. Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney are better cast, but they lack chemistry together, and while their individual performances are good -- sometimes quite good -- they both seem to be missing a little something. The same can be said of the direction and the screenplay -- good, professional, at times a notch or two above -- but never really catching fire and blazing away, as the basic story demands. Still, The Left Hand of God is worth viewing, especially for those who like tales of redemption and renewal. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Jean Porter - Mary Yin; Carl Benton Reid - Rev. Cornelius; Philip Ahn - Jan Teng; Benson Fong - Chun Tien; Richard H. Cutting - Father O'Shea; Don Forbes - Father Keller; Noel Toy - Woman In Sarong; Peter Chong - Fen Tso Lin; Marie Tsien - Woman in Kimona; George Chan - Li Kwan; Henry S. Quan - Orderly; Moy Ming - Old Man; George Lee - Mi Lu; Beal Wong - Father; Stella Lynn - Pao Chu; Robert Burton - Rev. Marvin; Soo Yong - Midwife; Candace Lee - Girl; Leon Lontoc - Pao-Ching; Victor Sen Yung - John Wong; Sammee Tong - Servant; Walter Soo Hoo - Hospital Orderly
Movie tie-in edition of William E. Barrett's book, The Left Hand of God
Jim Carmody (Humphrey Bogart) is an American pilot in World War II. After crashing his plane in China, he was rescued by a local warlord, General Yang (Lee J. Cobb), and became his trusted adviser. However, after one of the general's soldiers kills a priest, Father O'Shea, Jim decides to desert.
Carmody masquerades as the dead priest and manages to escape to a remote mountain village. There he meets missionaries Beryl (Agnes Moorehead) and David Sigman (E.G. Marshall). Still posing as the priest, he falls in love with attractive mission nurse Anne Scott (Gene Tierney). Scott feels ashamed because she is also attracted to him. Carmody writes to the bishop, confessing that he is an impostor.
Then General Yang arrives, insisting that Carmody rejoin his army or else he will burn down the village. Carmody proposes a game of dice, wagering years of service against his freedom and the safety of the villagers.
