If the good ship Nathan Ross had had as many holes as the script for "Across to Singapore," it would have sunk before getting out of port.
A very good cast ably directed by William Nigh did its best in a stupid story with very little realism or common sense.
This was a motion picture version of the book "All the Brothers Were Valiant," which was remade under that title, and only slightly better. (See my review here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045494/reviews-8).
Since the two scripts were so different, and since I haven't read the book, I don't know if either really depicts the book.
But the general lack of connection to reality of the two movies makes me not want to read it.
Two reasons, though, to watch "Across to Singapore": Joan Crawford, even in a long dress, looked really good and already showed signs of the talent that would give her a film career longer than her dress; and Anna May Wong, one of the loveliest of Hollywood lovelies, is unbilled here but is very eye-catching and appealing.
Finally, another reason not to watch: On Sunday, 24 April 2016, Silent Sunday Night on Turner Classic Movie presented a really lousy, miserable copy of the film.
Much of it was so burned out it was practically invisible. One of the worst moments was when either an intertitle or perhaps a picture of the ship's log was shown -- except it wasn't: It was just a long sequence of white screen because of the awful print.
"Across to Singapore" is probably more a curiosity than entertainment. It might be worth watching, if you have a LOT of patience and are really interested in seeing these moments in the career of the performers.
And, truth to tell, if you can view a good print, you might even be glad to watch this aspect of Hollywood history.
A very good cast ably directed by William Nigh did its best in a stupid story with very little realism or common sense.
This was a motion picture version of the book "All the Brothers Were Valiant," which was remade under that title, and only slightly better. (See my review here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045494/reviews-8).
Since the two scripts were so different, and since I haven't read the book, I don't know if either really depicts the book.
But the general lack of connection to reality of the two movies makes me not want to read it.
Two reasons, though, to watch "Across to Singapore": Joan Crawford, even in a long dress, looked really good and already showed signs of the talent that would give her a film career longer than her dress; and Anna May Wong, one of the loveliest of Hollywood lovelies, is unbilled here but is very eye-catching and appealing.
Finally, another reason not to watch: On Sunday, 24 April 2016, Silent Sunday Night on Turner Classic Movie presented a really lousy, miserable copy of the film.
Much of it was so burned out it was practically invisible. One of the worst moments was when either an intertitle or perhaps a picture of the ship's log was shown -- except it wasn't: It was just a long sequence of white screen because of the awful print.
"Across to Singapore" is probably more a curiosity than entertainment. It might be worth watching, if you have a LOT of patience and are really interested in seeing these moments in the career of the performers.
And, truth to tell, if you can view a good print, you might even be glad to watch this aspect of Hollywood history.