Rogues' Regiment

The ease of the last Nazi was criminal (the one who got away) and how Army intelligence tracked him down is the subject of dick Powell's latest wharf-brawl. As usual, dapper Dick has little or nothing to work with, in this case just his native intelligence and a picture of the culprit facing the other way. For an hilarious moment, the patrons have visions of Powell prowling the globe in search of a man whose pate is familiar, when a clue turns up which sends him scurrying off to Indo-china.

Once arrived in Saigon, secret agent Powell proceeds to make himself extremely inconspicuous. After a thorough scrubbing, he dons a white lines suit and goes to a local nightspot where he stands at the bar and drinks champagne. So far, so good,

The chanteuse in this delightful den is of course a beautiful Gallie hawkshaw, with orders to help Powell out in every way possible. Powell joins the foreign legion, battles the native revolutionaries (the same seamy Oriental, crowd who were cut down in "Wake Island", "Bataan", "Air Force" and infinitum) gets captured, escapes, locates the evil Nazi (left over from "A Yank in the R.A.F." "Crash Dive", and "Action in the North Atlantic") and finally lands the dame. The whole affair rises to a glorious climax when Powell returns in triumph to his Nebraska hay farm.

All in all, "Rogue's regiment" is a pretty poor slice of life in the raw. The plot is hyper-complicated, provides for but one pier six brawl, and leaves enough loose ends around to knit a pair of argyle socks. People are killed aimlessly for the sheer desire to spill gore, the heroine is permitted to warble a couple of songs, and there are even a couple of inscrutable references to the Russians. The role of Vincent Price left this observer completely baffled. He run guns to the natives, helped out former SS men, and was in general a sort of catch-all character. The last thing he caught was a slug in the head and two in the chest. Good riddance.

Co-featured with "Rogues Regiment" is a Hollywood heartwarmer entitled "Big city." It features the cop on the Beat (George Murphy), a good-hearted gamin (Butch Jenkins), and sundry other people you want to avoid. Worst of all it has Margaret O'Brien. This observer has always felt that M-G-M's Margaret is an ill-tempered, abnormal, sniveling little wretch; the sooner she reaches the awkward age the better.