Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Strange Cargo (1940)

Director: Frank Borzage

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Ace melodramatist Borzage always injected his tales of romance and hardship with more than a touch of spiritual redemption, and this is one of his most explicit statements about the uplifting power of love. Gable is one of a group of convicts who escapes from the prison on Devil's Island; through his relationship with Crawford, which develops from basic sexual attraction to intense emotional commitment, and through his hardships as they trek through the jungle, he finds not only physical but also spiritual liberation. Most remarkable, however, is the Ian Hunter character, who helps lead them to salvation: omniscient and at one with nature, he becomes almost a Christ-figure endowed with strange powers and the gift of mercy. Borzage lends the tale quite extraordinary conviction.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.