Yes, Singapore is a rather shameless mixture of Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Not only does the always reliable Fred MacMurray play his role ‘Bogart style’, but even the supporting cast replacements are like that Seinfeld storyline where the characters cast themselves in their own sitcom. And yes, the big plot ‘twist’ is also utterly ridiculous. Still, the chaotic post-WWII Singapore setting gives the film a surprisingly refreshing noir backdrop. The extremely brief running time, even for ‘noir standards’, also helps in making this a simple yet entertaining movie experience.
Singapore comes off as something as an imitation of Casablanca, though it does just about enough to hold its own. It's a noir-ish story of romance and deception with the titular location making for an exotic place for it all to happen in. Fred MacMurray is an American skipper who returns to Singapore to retrieve some pearls he left there during the war. The opening act is basically an extended flasbback, as MacMurray recounts his romance with his then wife and the story behind the pearls. Once we return to the present, the film turns into something of a cat and mouse thriller/doomed romance film as MacMurray attempts to retrieve the pearls under the nose of the authorities while rekindling his relationship with his ex-wife who is now the amnesia stricken wife of a wealthy plantation owner (who also happens to be in Singapore at just the same time). The two major plot threads blend well together, with MacMurray a likable lead though not sharing a great chemistry with the beautiful Ava Gardner. Comic relief comes in the form of a couple of American tourists, while the film makes a good attempt at making something of the location despite the fact that it was obviously all shot on studio sets. At eighty minutes long Singapore doesn't overstay its welcome and is generally entertaining, if lightweight stuff, for the most part.
I never get tired of watching what I call "Oriental Noir" movies --- and I use the term Oriental specifically to denote that utterly false western image of the "exotic orient" built by the movies - the dangerous bars, the secret societies, the posh hotels, the white suits, the heat, the sweat, the rickshaws, the heroes on the margins of society, and the rule bending police inspector trying to bring him in, befriending him along the way, and of course the beautiful woman who shows up and changes everything. Most of all I enjoy seeing wonderful supporting cast of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean American actors who couldn't get a look-in at the hero role but found regular work as coolies, thuggees, Japanese soldiers, and cooks. Just naming your movie after a foreign city is often enough to set the mood - add some chopstick font opening credits to put it over the top.Singapore might not be the best in the genre, but it's got all the elements and offers some real pleasures. Ava Gardner's drink of choice is the gin sling - these days knows as a "Singapore Sling", and if it made me look as alluring as Ava I'd be drinking it too. Fred MacMurray is a pearl smuggler who falls in love with her - too bad the Japanese invade and she gets amnesia the day of her wedding. Of all the rotten luck! Prioritizing either finding her, or the clutch of smuggled pearls he left behind, keeps the rest of the movie humming along, with the always welcome Tomas Gomez as his rival for the pearls and Roland Culver his rival for Gardner. She is of course intensely watchable even if the amnesia plot doesn't leave her much to go with. I was definitely more interested in her pre-amnesia character. MacMurray always makes me think I'm going to be bored with him, but I wasn't at all - I keep forgetting he did a handful of absolutely fantastic noirs and he can do the growling, no-nonsense, no bullshit tough guy very well.
