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Humphrey Bogart experiences "The Left Hand of God" in this 1955 film also starring Gene Tierney, Lee J. Cobb, Agnes Moorhead and Lee J. Cobb. Bogart is Father O'Shea, who arrives at a mission in China to take over religious duties. The casting of Bogart should tell you something right away. While there, he wins the hearts of the people and that of a beautiful nurse (Tierney) who is a widow and, being a strong Catholic, finds her emotions unsettling. Father O has a relationship with a Chinese warlord, and now the village seems in danger. Can he save it? There's not a tremendous amount of action in this film, but the wonderful cast keeps us interested. Always a surprising actor, Bogart has a way with touching moments, such as receiving a blessing from the oldest man in the village. In 1955, Gene Tierney was still a young and beautiful woman, but for some reason, around 1950, she adopted a short, matronly haircut that I for one never found flattering. She's lovely in this as a lonely widow. Moorhead and Marshall give strong performances as the doctor and his wife. Lee J. Cobb is good, but seen today, his Chinese makeup is distracting.

Mildly interesting.

Nice and intelligent film , being Humphrey's second to last movie providing an awesome acting . As he plays a pilot called James 'Jim' Carmody (Bogart , though Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck were considered to star in this picture) attempting to escape in post WWIII , 1947 , dressed as a priest from the revenge of a Chinese warlord (Lee J Cobb) . At a Catholic mission in China , being long-awaited "Father O'Shea" but there shows up Carmody posing as a cleric and he proves to be a two-fisted guy . At this place lives the enticing nurse Anne (Gene Tierney) , a gorgeous war widow , who believes she is falling in love with someone she can't marry . Meanwhile , China disintegrates in civil war (1945-1949) , warlords , revolution and fights between Maoists and nationalists.

This is a sensitive film including emotions , interesting dialogue , a marvelous love story and fine performances . The hand of Edward Dmytryk tends to rely heavily on the enjoyable relationship between Bogart and Tierney . The film is pretty well , though results are rather dull and sincere with an abundance of narrative dialog . Interesting screenplay by Alfred Hayes based on the novel "The Left Hand of God" by William E. Barrett . Long time ago , William Faulkner completed an adaptation of the 1950 novel for director Howard Hawks , a longtime collaborator . Here Bogart in a new type of action role who proves to be surprisingly effective with the unusual character of an adventurer/pilot who disguised himself as a Catholic cleric . Gene Tierney is as beautiful as ever as the attractive woman . However , being last starring screen appearance of actress Gene Tierney, who had been suffering from mental illness for a number of years and entered various treatment centers . Support cast is frankly well , such as : Agnes Moorehead , E.G. Marshall , Jean Porter , Carl Benton Reid and Lee J Cobb is great as a warlord . The movie displays a luxurious and colorful cinematography by Franz Planer . Emotive and moving musical score by the classical composer Victor Young , including a stirring leitmotif .

The motion picture was well directed by Edward Dmytryk , though being slow-moving and with penchant to weight rather heavily on the proceedings . A veteran filmmaker, Dmytryck is one of Hollywood's most prolific directors who started his career in the early 40s . He was a craftsman whose career was interrupted by the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a congressional committee that employed ruthless tactics aimed at rooting out and destroying what it saw as Communist influence in Hollywood . A lifelong political leftist who had been a Communist Party member briefly during World War II, Dmytryk was one of the so-called "Hollywood Ten" who refused to cooperate with HUAC and had their careers disrupted or ruined as a result . The committee threw him in prison for refusing to cooperate, and after having spent several months behind bars , Dmytryk decided to cooperate . Dmytrick's biggest film was ¨The Caine Mutiny¨ , but he also realized another mutiny film titled : ¨Mutiny¨ with Angela Lansbury . Edward was an expert on warlike genre as ¨Back to Batan¨ , ¨Battle of Anzio¨ , ¨Young lions¨ and Western as ¨Broken lance¨ , ¨Alvarez Kelly¨ , ¨Warlock¨ , among others . Rating : 6.5/10 , better than average . It's recommended for drama enthusiasts and big stars lovers .

Great movie stars are rarely great actors. But they are people who exude elements of humanity, which we'd like to possess- John Wayne's toughness, Sharon Stone's glamour, Gary Cooper's inner silence, or Michael Douglas's ruthlessness. More unique than acting talent, Humphrey Bogart's element was that of hardened sinner whose inner spark of decency wasn't entirely subsumed. In this Cinemascope/colour movie, where Bogie's late-night drinking and myriad of broken marital relationships was visibly etched upon every facial crevice, the idea that he could pass himself off as a priest was ludicrous. But THE LEFT HAND OF GOD never demands that of him- nor us.

It makes instead, the not impossible proposition that a simple, remote Chinese community traumatised by marauders might presume Bogie to be the 'priest of Christ' they so anxiously await. We the audience, are privy to who Bogey is and still is. His un-Godly skill, which ultimately saves the mission from General Yang's terror, is entirely in character.

The Catholic theology was also dead on. Those whom Bogie absolved, married and buried were spiritually exonerated by the very innocence we moviegoers cannot share about Bogart. The power of the central argument of William Barrett's much dissipated novel, in spite of -or maybe because of, 50's Hollywood formulaic moviemaking- is somehow preserved.

The repetitious references to Bogey as 'the priest of Christ' and the ingenuous children's enigmatic broken-English farewell of 'Oole Kantackee Hom,' also persuade. We know Bogey must leave, and that he is redeemed in spite of himself. Even Bogie doesn't know that. We now also know that this life-scarred, bloodshot, poker-playing sceptic received a fair Hearing- after dying from throat cancer less than two years later on January 14th 1957 -at least from the left Hand Side of his Maker.

You won't get the urge to hail with hallelujahs, but you'll walk away shrugging, and mumbling what the, especially when Yang's encountered, but the film was always downward, poor Lee J. Cobb is quite the opposite of stupendous. You may also have concerns about the mule, although there's several that compete to trick and fool, with a story that's so thin, Bogey's a fogey and quite thin, deserving better than this festering pustule. At least it's short which means you don't have to endure, a bit less than 90 minutes of Yak manure, but you'll not forget poor Lee, an Asian minstrel - could he see? A film with very low appeal, without allure.

William E. Barrett wrote novels in various genres but his works containing a religious element have proved more popular with film-makers, notably 'Lilies of the Field'.

'The Left Hand of God' boasts the excellent production values of Twentieth Century Fox, filmed in Daryl F. Zanuck's beloved Cinemascope by Franz Planer, with a strong score by Victor Young and a top-notch cast.

None of these factors alas is able to compensate for the disappointing script. Screenwriter Alfred Hayes is certainly no Grahame Greene and one critic referred to its 'mock religiosity'.

Director Edward Dmytryk and Humphrey Bogart had previously worked together on the excellent 'The Caine Mutiny' but Mr. Bogart's character here is rather one-dimensional although this actor is as always eminently watchable and has star quality in spades. As the phoney priest O'Shea he falls for the lovely nurse of Gene Tierney. There is a distinct simpatico between them despite the obvious age difference and that neither actor was in the best of health!

Great support from Agnes Moorhead, E. G. Marshall and Lee J. Cobb. Mr. Cobb's casting as a Chinese warlord is bizarre to say the least but typical of Hollywood at the time. The individual scenes between the five protagonists are excellent and the high stakes dice game between priest and warlord is the highlight.

Suffice to say this is a must for Bogie devotees of which this viewer is one but the film itself lacks focus and momentum. One cannot help but feel that an opportunity has been missed and that it remains an example of the Left hand not knowing what the Right hand is doing!

Considering it provides a rare opportunity to see Bogart in colour, is set during the civil war in China, Bogart pretends to be a gun-toting priest in his most bizarre role since playing a vampire over fifteen years earlier in 'The Return of Dr X' and Lee J. Cobb plays a Chinese warlord, you come out of it thinking "is that it?"

Bogart looks very old and tired, but he and the rest of the cast all do good work; although Victor Young's obtrusive score over-eggs the pudding as usual.

Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney headline this 20th Century Fox production. It is one of Bogart's few color films.

I liked the fact that the two lead characters in The Left Hand of God don't wind up together and that there is not a romantic happy ending. It certainly would not ring true for these characters and their situation.

I didn't buy Lee Cobb as the warlord. He's a great actor, but for him to play a role in yellow face, he would need to look at least the tiniest bit Asian. He doesn't. He has too wide a nose and lacks the type of delicate features that would make him physically believable as an Asian. Agnes Moorehead is good as always.

Humphrey Bogart stars as a man with a shady past in The Left Hand of God. In his entrance scene, he's seen in priest's garb, and he quickly stashes a gun among his personal belongings. Clearly, he's hiding something, but what? In contrast to his usual "trenchcoat" roles, this bad-guy part is given lots of layers for him to explore. He's clearly trying to turn over a new leaf, and as he preaches from the pulpit, he's gentle and understanding. Can't imagine Humph as a priest? Can't imagine him singing Chinese with a group of orphaned children?

Then you'll have to rent this interesting drama to believe it. I really enjoyed this movie, especially because of the character development and storyline. You'll have to suffer through Lee J. Cobb with tape on his eyes, and Agnes Moorehead as a suspicious busybody, but the rest of the movie makes up for it. Gene Tierney plays a nurse and gives a great subdued performance. She's intelligent and enjoys how she feels around the new priest; but she still has suspicion tugging at the back of her mind. This is probably Humphrey Bogart's most different role (besides The African Queen), so if you're a fan, you don't want to miss this. It's not every movie you get to see him giving a religious sermon in Chinese.

There were many movies dealing with same subject as missionaries on China as Gregory Peck's THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM, Deborah Kerr's BLACK NASCISSUS Ingrid Bergman's THE INN OF THE SIXTY HAPPINESS, Anne Bancroft's 7 WOMEN and so on, Boggie as James Carmody enters in this small list as pony father trying escape from the clutches of the mighty Mieh Yang (Lee J. Cobb) due he saves your life taking care him after an airplane crash on nearby area inside of China, hereinafter he has to work as tax collector almost as captive, thus when the real Father O'Shea passing by there was deadly shot, Carmody envisages if wearing O'Shea's cassock that has free pass on those far off provinces.

Just arriving at small village introducing as the own Father O'Shea, expecting stay a little while until get the annual caravan of trading, where he supposed slipping away, however he never would've guessed that such place he'll be awarded by many positive stuff made on behalf of faith for those less fortunate on poor village, also getting wonderment by them, meanwhile the beauty American nurse Anne Scott (Gene Tierney) who has a mutual forbidden platonic romance interest, also the pugnacious American Dr. David Sigman (E. G. Marshall) and his sneaky wife Beryl Sigman (Agnes Moorehead), although everything will changes with a sudden arrival of the dreadful Mieh Yang expecting Carmody returning or the villagers would pay expensive by his decision-making.

Interesting plotline mainly over Boggie and Lee J. Cobb that just enters in the middle of the story, squabbling among themselves about an alleged return, actually both have a self-respect each other, in one hand Yang aside be a tough nut to crack is conscious that Carmody is an undeniable pleasant guy who is frantically requires at your side on a whim, in opposite hand Carmody needs breath his countryside air to live, fine struggle of egos settled playing dices.

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First watch: 1986 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.

This is better than Edward Dmytryk's other Chinese film of the same year from Hongkong, "Soldier of Fortune". Here is another soldier of fortune but of an opposite kind. Humphrey Bogart as a Catholic priest lands in a village somewhere between Sinkiang and Tibet among the mountains, where there is a bandit gang threatening the villages under the chieftain Lee J. Cobb, the perfect crook in all his films. It seems that Cobb and Humphrey have met before, and the best scenes are between these two men, very opposite but matching each other perfectly.

Gene Tierney is the nurse in the village who has the misfortune of falling in love with her priest, while E.G.Marshall makes one of his best performances as the village doctor, married to the equally stalwart Agnes Moorehead, the greatest realist in the film. The villagers also play an important part, the school children, the patients, the local whore-house, the elder of the village - like in "Soldier of Fortune" the ethnic panorama here is of major interest.

The backbone of the film though is the fantastic story. Humphrey plays one of his most complex and intriguing characters and does it more than well in perhaps his last real film and one of his very few in colour. The village is not only threatened by bandits and the civil war of China, (this is 1947), but also by the impending possibility that the mission has to be abandoned. E.G.Marshall and Bogart have many arguments about this. and they are never agreed.

The conclusion is inevitable, and although it's not a happy end it is in a way most satisfactory. It was after all the best of all possible endings.

It's a beautiful film and one of Dmytryk's best. You recognize some of the arguments from "The End of the Affair" where God also played some part, but here he does not intrude, although he is used, but it is rather more common and rational sense that has the last word here than any theology, which actually is better done without.

Interesting that The Left Hand of God should be directed by Edward Dmytryk one of the famed Hollywood 10 and the only one to recant and admit his Communist Party involvement so he could beat the blacklist and resume work. Dmytryk like Bogart in the film pretended he was something he wasn't and submitted himself for a kind of absolution.

Flier James Carmody is shot down while flying the hump in Kuomintang China during the Thirties and he's shot down in an isolated area where Chiang Kai-shek's writ doesn't run. He gets drafted into warlord Lee J. Cobb's army and then deserts, using the disguise of a recently deceased priest who got himself deceased by one of Cobb's men.

Like William Holden in Bridge Over the River Kwai, Carmody played by Bogart is forced by circumstance to keep up the appearance. He wins over a lot of the villagers where the deceased priest was headed for. And he also wins over missionary lady Gene Tierney. And he becomes involved in a rather dubious miracle that saves the village.

The key here is that Bogart is a lapsed Catholic himself in the film. Otherwise the whole thing would have no meaning whatsoever. Even so, I'm still dubious myself about Bogart's attitude when all's said and done.

Plot elements can be found as I said in The Bridge on the River Kwai and later on it was played for comedy in a military setting when Glenn Ford pretended he was a general in Imitation General in an obscure corner of the European theater in World War II.

Bogey fans will consider this film a must, others can take or leave it.

I first saw the film, and found it quite good. The story was catching, and the actors were splendid. As far as Bogart is concerned, I rank this movie with "the Caine Mutiny", and above "African Queen". Lee J. Cobb I found quite good too, and much more credible than Curd Juergens in "the Inn of sixth happiness". The rest of the cast gives, I think, a quite good idea of the missionary life in China. Which was the weak part in the otherwise good "Sand Pebbles". I read the book at least once a year. It explains more of the movie plot, and I recommend to anyone interested in the ethics of the film, but it should have been too long, if strictly respected in the screenplay. I'd rate the movie 9,5/10, admitting, though, that Bogart is one of my favorite actors, which could biase my judgment !

If you like warm feelings and inspirational plots, especially if you are religious, you will love this film. If you prefer PG-13 and above, don't bother. This is solid family entertainment. It has superb acting and writing, and it is very heart warming without being corny or maudlin. Bogart is at his best type cast in his standard role of a cynic from the school of hard knocks who, when put to the test, shows himself to have a heart of gold underneath it all. The extreme poverty and ignorance of Chinese rural people at this time, as well as the very successful inroads made by Catholic missionaries there during this period are accurately portrayed.

Father O'Shea, arrives at a Catholic mission in 1947 China, though his methods at first seem heavy handed, the villagers come to admire and respect him. But the longer he stays there the closer he gets to Anne, a pretty nurse who herself is strangely drawn to this unorthodox priest, it is just a matter of time before the truth will out and secrets are about to become uncovered.

Based on the novel by William E. Barrett, The Left Hand Of God just about registers as an interesting piece. I would go as far to say that it's merely the presence of some big name actors that have stopped this one from being panned wholesale. The acting is fine, Humphrey Bogart takes the lead as Father O'Shea, restrained and committed to the role he is, but it's not really a role calling for anything out of the ordinary. Gene Tierney plays Anne and barely has enough written for her to flourish, and this accounts for a distinct lack of chemistry between herself and Bogart. Gruff nasty villain duties fall to Lee J. Cobb, who in his oriental makeup now looks incredibly dated and sadly, laughable. The story will be of interest to those of religious beliefs, and at its heart the redemption fable is to be roundly applauded, but the whole movie drags to its inevitable conclusion and come the warm finale i personally felt that it's such a waste of talent. Yes it's touching at times, and yes its point is well and truly made, but ultimately it's a very forgettable piece of interest to Bogart and religious purists only. 5/10