The Left Hand of God

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Gene Tierney, Lee J. Cobb, Agnes Moorehead
Directed by: Edward Dmytryk
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Drama
1955

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A priest (Humphrey Bogart) comes to a small Catholic mission in rural China. He soon becomes an integral part of the community, but revolution in China threatens the mission, and to reveal an amazing secret of their popular priest.

Review:

Tim: This is a mildly amusing film that moves along until the last 20 minutes when it is saved by being absolutely extraordinary. I don't know what it is about Humphrey Bogart as a priest that is so interesting, but I was mesmerized by him in the role. Sometimes there are certain actors that you just want to see in certain roles, and this is a perfect example of that.

Bogart is a priest who comes to a Catholic mission in rural 1947 China. From the outset, he appears unconventional, to say the least. Bogart plays this role perfectly. He needed to be a man of faith, but also a man of incredible mystery, and he successfully pulls it off. Really, who this man is and what he's doing in rurul China makes for the central mystery of the film. This is what propels the movie forward.

The film works because of these interesting characters in the very intense and mysterious setting of China. We have missions, we have revolutions and civil war in China, and we have mysterious characters who are far more than they appear.

The film does drag at times. It starts off strongly and has a very strong end, but some scenes in the middle threaten to derail the whole movie.

When it comes down to it, The Left Hand of God offers an incredibly interesting premise, but fails on execution. The mysteries, when revealed, are not quite as exciting as we hoped. The movie is fairly entertaining, and although flawed, it is still worth seeing if you have nothing better to do for a few hours. This is no where near Bogart's best, but it isn't too bad, either.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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