''The Scavengers'' is a 1959 Filipino

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

that was directed by John Cromwell, and starred

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade''. Ear ...

and

Carol Ohmart Armelia Carol Ohmart (June 3, 1927 – January 1, 2002), known professionally as Carol Ohmart, was an American actress and former model who appeared in numerous films and television series from the early 1950s until the 1970s. Over the duration ...

. Shot on location in the

Crown Colony of Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British ...

, it was produced by former US Navy fighter pilot

Kane W. Lynn Kane W. Lynn (1919–1975) was an American film producer who made a number of movies in the Philippines with producer Irwin Pizor and Filipino director Eddie Romero as Hemisphere Pictures, or the ''House of Horror'' as they often referred to them ...

and Filipino director

Eddie Romero Edgar Sinco Romero, (July 7, 1924 – May 28, 2013), commonly known as Eddie Romero, was a Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter. Early life Romero was born on July 7, 1924. His father was José E. Romero, the first Philipp ...

(who also wrote the screenplay). It was released in December 1959 as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

in the U.S. with ''

Terror Is a Man ''Terror Is a Man'' (also known as ''Blood Creature'', ''Creature from Blood Island'', ''The Gory Creatures'', ''Island of Terror'' and ''Gore Creature'') is a 1959Warren, Bill (1986). ''Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2''. McFarland & Co., Inc. ...

'' by

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

's Valiant Pictures. ''The Scavengers'' was re-released in 1963 as ''City of Sin'' by Lynn's new company, Hemisphere Pictures.

Plot

Former

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

pilot Stuart Allison has been searching the Orient for his wife who deserted him six years ago. Now running a smuggling operation in Hong Kong, he sights his wife Marian boarding a ferry to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. Allison is pursued by both the

Royal Hong Kong Police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

and a mystery man named O'Hara, who inform him that his wife is now a cocaine addict and involved in smuggling stolen bonds embezzled by a missing former Nationalist Chinese general.

Cast

... Stuart Allison *

... Marian Allison *

Richard Loo Richard Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was an American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1982. Early lif ...

... General Woo * Tamar Benamy ... Marissa * John Wallace ... Taggert * Efren Reyes, Sr. ... Puan *

Vic Diaz Victor Sunico Diaz'', popularly known as Vic Diaz, (July 29, 1932 – September 15, 2006) was a Filipino character actor who mostly portrayed villains. He was also the father of Teddy Diaz, the founding guitarist of the Filipino Rock band The D ...

... Casimir O'Hara * Mario Barri ... Hong Kong Police Inspector * Eddie Infante * Renato Robles

Production

The film was director John Cromwell's penultimate feature film. Making their debuts in the film were Jerusalem born dancer Tamar Benamy (born Tamar Ben-Ami March 9, 1937 - August 31, 1997) and

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

broadcaster John Wallace, who also appeared in ''

Ferry to Hong Kong ''Ferry to Hong Kong'' is a 1959 British melodrama/adventure film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Curt Jürgens, Sylvia Syms, Orson Welles and Jeremy Spenser. Plot Mark Conrad, a debonair Anglo-Austrian former playboy and junk owner, n ...

''. The film is credited as "introducing"

, though he had previously appeared in several Philippine films. Ohmart was cast by Cromwell, who had seen her in similar films.Clemens, Samuel. "Carol Ohmart: The Story of Hollywood's Greatest Actress", ''Lulu Press''. December 2022

References

External links

* 1959 films Films directed by John Cromwell Philippine black-and-white films Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong 1959 adventure films 1959 crime films Film noir Films set in Macau Philippine adventure films Philippine crime films 1950s English-language films {{Philippines-film-stub