An exotic setting, glamorous sets, a young and beautiful Ava Gardner, Maury Gertsman's great cinematography, a lovely score from Daniele Amfitheatrof and an exciting ending all combine to overcome the liesurely first hour of this film and give it that something extra. It is a glossy crime and romance film with a romantic feel that doesn't quite have the bite to be real noir, but entertains in a "Casablanca Light" kind of way.

Fred MacMurray portrays Matt Gordon, returning to the Hotel Singapore now that the war is over hoping to retrieve a fortune in pearls he hid in his room. There are memories everywhere for Gordon of his romance with Linda Grahame (Ava Gardner). A small cafe table and two gin slings only remind him of the great love he lost just before they could be married when the Japanese bombed Singapore and she was killed in an air raid.

Deputy Hewitt (Richard Hayden) has a long memory as well, and puts Gordon on notice that he knows about the pearls and will be keeping a close eye on Gordon. They have sort of a cordial cop-crook repore and their relationship sort of mirrors the Rains--Bogart one in Casablanca.

Everything changes for Gordon, however, when he sees a ghost, a very beautiful ghost. There are only two problems: she's married to a rich plantation owner who loves her, and she has amnesia, with no memory of anything before the air raid. Hewitt's cops help her track down her pretty servant from before the war, Ming Ling (Maylia), who tells her of their love even though she can't remember.

The relationship of Linda and her wealthy husband Michael (Roland Culver) sort of mirrors the Bergman--Lukas one in Casablanca in one more similarity to that film. Thomas Gomez is the smarmy Sydney Greenstreet type who decides to rough up Linda a bit in order to discover where Matt hid the pearls.

This is when the film takes off. Matt goes after Linda in order to save her, even if it may be for someone else. When the bullets are flying she is knocked out and Matt takes her back to Michael where she can get medical help. Matt has managed to get the pearls but has a change of heart and leaves his fate in Hewitt's hands. But his fate may be in Michael's hands also, as that knock on the head has brought back Linda's memories of her past, and her love for Matt.

Spring Byington and Porter Hall add some humor as vacationers Mr. and Mrs. Bellows. What is probably a three star film for the first hour gets a big boost if you enjoy those great Hollywood endings of the 1940's. This one involves pearls, police, a plane and a pretty girl. It's hard to go wrong with all that, especially when the pretty girl is Ava Gardner.