His Type of Woman

Produced by RKO, at that time controlled by the megalomaniacal and volatile Howard Hughes, the ambitious film noir His Kind of Woman was the first film to bring Jane Russell and Robert Mitchum together (they would repeat the collaboration a year later in Macao). Most of the film was shot under the supervision of director John Farrow, but Hughes was not entirely satisfied with the result and called in Richard Fleischer to make changes and extensive reshoots. The resulting, nearly two-hour film suffers from a certain inconsistency, but the sprawling plot, the charisma and chemistry of the two leads, and the exotic setting (Mitchum travels to Mexico once again) help to overcome its shortcomings. In addition, His Kind of Woman has an unexpected amount of humor for a noir (thanks to the character played by Vincent Price) and features two songs that prove Jane Russell was also a talented singer. (mh)