Across the Pacific

Huston’s third feature was originally supposed to concern a Japanese plot to bomb Pearl Harbor, but when this scenario became a reality before it could be filmed, the target in the story shifted to Panama (though the title was left unchanged). Reteaming Humphrey Bogart with two Maltese Falcon co-stars—the elegantly conniving Sydney Greenstreet and enigmatic love interest Mary Astor—Across the Pacific was turned over to Vincent Sherman when Huston was called up for military service. To Sherman’s laments over how to extract Bogart from his climactic bind, Huston replied, “That’s your problem, I’m off to the war!” Preserved by the Library of Congress.