A concoction of familiar ingredients entertainingly mixed up and reheated - tough hero; hired to do a job by a man in a wheel chair with a sexy nurse; exotic and seedy locations; voice over and black and white photography; slutty women on board ship; Mexico locations. It's kind of a film noir take on a buried treasure film in Mexico - so while it's mostly moody and noir-y there's also dashes of the Maltese Falcoln, Indiana Jones and even Westerns (the final confrontation where Ford tracks down the bad guy is straight out of a Western).
Glenn Ford is fine in a role that, to be honest, could have been played by Alan Ladd, Bob Mitchum, or practically any tough guy star. Ditto Patricia Medina in another. Neither of them had that individual a star personas. Still they're reminders of a time gone by and it's fun to see them running around.
There's some great supporting turns from Francis Sullivan as a creepy guy in a wheelchair (echoing Sydney Greenstreet) and especially Sean McClory as an even creepier mystery man (echoing Peter Lorre). Diana Lynn hams it up as a slutty alcoholic and there's some location work in Mexico.
Maybe two and a half stars is a better indication but John Farrow keeps it moving at a fair clip and it's professional lack of prevention comes as a relief to the modern film fan.
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