Redundant and unnecessary.

Expected more

A different way of telling a story

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

needed special permission of production code to talk about drug smuggling made during Powell's 'tough guy' years opium trade set 1935"To The Ends Of The Earth" was a film made during the period after Dick Powell transitioned from the pretty-boy crooner in light-weight films to a more world-weary and middle aged leading man. I generally loved these films, as Powell's characters were often incredibly cynical...and he pulled it off very well. This one, while showing SOME of this new sort of Powell character, sadly, isn't up to the quality of his best performances of the era...though it is a decent time-passer.The film begins in the mid-1930s with an insanely graphic and troubling scene. Treasury Department Commissioner, Mike Barrows (Powell), is on a boat in the San Francisco area that is trailing a boat full of smugglers. In a sick and desperate act, the captain of the boat being pursued decides to have his men toss their illegal cargo overboard instead of being caught with it...and you see dozens of Chinese migrant workers chained together being tossed into the sea to their deaths! Barrows witnesses this and is horrified...and vows to see this captain apprehended. But they are now in international waters and the boat escapes.Later, there is a lead that the captain MIGHT be in China and so Barrows travels there to hunt for the scum-bag. However, it soon begins clear that these Chinese workers were not what he originally thought. They were, in fact, slave laborers used by folks in the narcotics trade to plant and harvest poppies and soon he finds himself investigating the heroin trade. While all this sounds very exciting, the film's pacing wasn't great and the story went to too many locations and had too many characters. Normally I don't see this as a problem but I found that the pacing and story were not especially well done. I think a lot of this was made more obvious because too often instead of DOING anything, the characters talked and talked and talked. Overall, not a bad film but one that was surprisingly flat at times.

Every time I looked to see how much time was left I'd say - dammit. Wish it could have gone on longer. Not sure why this one isn't more well known. Opens in that semi-documentary style, but after that it turns into a top-notch film. Story is complex enough without being confusing, entire cast is good. As much as I enjoyed Powell's been-there-done-that kinda attitude in "Murder, My Sweet", I like him better here, where it's more subtle, plus I like how his character is able to show a little more genuine surprise as the story unfolds. Hate reviews that give away stuff, and I don't mean just give away the important stuff, I mean give away anything. Totally stubborn about that, more than anyone I know. Sorry, not gonna say anything about this plot except that the title sums it up well enough. Much better than most 40s-50s international intrigue BS like "Beat the Devil" or "Rope of Sand". If you can slog through that crap you need to watch this. Most everything I watch these days are old crime thrillers, and as much as I enjoy them, a lot don't hold up well over time. This is an exception, no question. I hardly ever write reviews here - honestly, I don't even know if I've even done one, that's how much I care about putting them down. Felt compelled to in this case.

This was a combination documentary/fictional melodrama "based on actual incidents from the files of the Narcotics Division of the United States Treasury Department" for the "purpose of setting forth the functions and procedures of the Division" headed by Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger, who appears as himself in the opening, middle and end of the film. One of the "thou-shalt-nots" that was part of the Production Code list that had to be adhered to before a film could be issued an approval number---in this case PCA No. 12390---was an edict against showing any kind of illegal drug trafficking. The producers fought for and acquired a revision in the Code for this film.

A fun, serial-like adventure movie which presages "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and that harkens back to a time when the world seemed like a bigger and more mysterious place. Dick Powell is the quintessential tough guy who also loves his rose garden. Excellent twist ending.Strangely neglected film, probably because its view of the international drug trade seems rather quaint by today's standards. Still, a wonderful time capsule that reminds us of such forgotten history as Japan's wartime domination of China and the crumbling colonial empires of England and France in the Middle East. Also, the slave trade theme continues (sadly) to resonate, given the recent headlines about Chinese workers being smuggled into the States as sweatshop laborers.