Across the Pacific

Across the Pacific
Directed byJohn Huston
Vincent Sherman
Screenplay byRichard Macaulay
Based on"Aloha Means Good-bye"
(1941 The Saturday Evening Post story)
by Robert Carson
Produced byJack Saper
Jerry Wald
StarringHumphrey Bogart
Mary Astor
Sydney Greenstreet
CinematographyArthur Edeson
Edited byFrank Magee
Music byAdolph Deutsch
Production
company
Warner Bros.
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • September 4, 1942 (1942-09-04)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$576,000[1]
Box office$1.3 million (US rentals)[2][3]
$2,375,000 (worldwide)[1]

Across the Pacific is a 1942 American spy film set on the eve of the entry of the United States into World War II. It was directed first by John Huston, then by Vincent Sherman after Huston joined the United States Army Signal Corps. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet. Despite the title, the action never progresses across the Pacific, concluding in Panama. The original script portrayed an attempt to avert a Japanese plan to invade Pearl Harbor. When the real-life attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, production was shut down for three months, resuming on March 2, 1942, with a revised script changing the target to Panama.[4][5]

The screenplay by Richard Macauley was an adaptation of a Saturday Evening Post serial by Robert Carson, “Aloha Means Goodbye”, published June 28–July 26, 1941.[6][7]

Warner Bros. used the same title for a 1926 silent adventure film starring Monte Blue, who has a small role in this picture. However, the plots of the two films have no similarities.

  1. ^ a b Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 23 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  2. ^ "101 Pix Gross in Millions" Variety 6 Jan 1943 p 58
  3. ^ Thomas Schatz, Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s Uni of California Press, 1999 p 218
  4. ^ Astor, Mary, A Life on Film, Dell Publishing 1967, New York, p. 157
  5. ^ "Across the Pacific (1942) - Notes - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  6. ^ "Across the Pacific". Variety. 1942-01-01. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  7. ^ "Across the Pacific (1942) - Screenplay Info - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2020-04-01.