I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

"Tokyo Joe" from 1949 was the first film that was allowed to film in post-war Japan. Produced by Bogart's Santana Productions, it's just fair.Bogart plays Joe Barrett, who returns to Japan after the war to start a business. While there, he discovers that his wife Trina (Florence Marly) is still alive. However, when he finds her, he discovers that she has divorced him and remarried a man named Mark Landis (Alexander Knox). Joe is determined to get her back and needs to extend his visa; he is approached by Baron Kimura (Sessue Hayakawa) who wants him to front an airline freight company for him. He would be importing frozen frogs. However, there is some additional freight, and for that, Kimura blackmails Joe by telling him what Trina was involved in during the war, which he will make public if Joe doesn't work with him.This film bears a passing resemblance to Casablanca, and Bogart is clearly going through a transition which would lead to some of his greatest films and performances in the '50s. Rick of Casablanca is clearly pretty tired out. Being a small company, Santana Productions did not make big films or hire actors equal to Bogart, so the effect here is mediocre.Florence Marly as Trina is a disaster - cold, very haughty looking, without much acting ability. It's impossible to see why Joe fell for her in the first place. She is no Ilse Lund, and she has no chemistry with Bogart. Her intentions are very unclear as well - as an actress, it doesn't look like she made any decisions about the character. Alexander Knox and Sessue Hayakawa are very good. Bogart, for my money, is always terrific.Definitely worth seeing for the Japanese location and for Bogart. It's not horrendous, but considering that Bogart starred in so many classic films, it's not that good.

"Tokyo Joe" was one of the first pictures made by Humphrey Bogart's production company, Santana. While it is impressive in that it was the first film to be shot in post-war Japan (no doubt thanks to Bogarts' popularity), it is a weaker, lesser, tedious film. The plot is all too familiar, there is not a really good supporting cast, and Bogart appears to be sleepwalking thru this all to familiar character.The most ridiculous parts being where Bogart is practicing his Judo. His stunt double looks nothing like him.Nothing offensive about this film, other than it's blandness. Pass on this one.5 out of 10

Humphrey Bogart has been my favorite screen actor for over three decades now, so "Tokyo Joe"--one of the few Bogeys that I'd never seen--was a film that I anxiously put at the top of my list of DVDs to rent. Well, as I suspected, this is a decidedly lesser Bogey picture, but one that still offers much to even the casual viewer. In this one, Bogey portrays Joe Barrett, ex-owner of a nightclub on the Ginza. After WW2, he returns to Tokyo, and becomes involved in smuggling to save his ex-wife (who he thought had died) as well as his 6-year-old daughter (who he never knew existed). Bogey is well suited to this character, who at first looks after only himself but who soon sacrifices much for the sake of those near to him. The film features a compact, sensible story and is well acted by all. Czech actress Florence Marly, who plays Bogart's ex-wife, is quite attractive and acts impeccably; it's a shame she didn't appear in more American films. Sessue Hayakawa (unmustachioed, for a change) makes for a formidable villain, and it's fun to see Whit Bissell and Hugh "Ward Cleaver" Beaumont appear in scenes with the great Bogart. Teru Shimada (so memorable as Mr. Osato in my favorite Bond film, "You Only Live Twice") is fine as Bogart's partner, and little Lora Lee Michael and Bogey share some cute, sweet scenes together. And, like "As Time Goes By" did for "Casablanca" and "Too Marvelous For Words" did for "Dark Passage," here, "These Foolish Things" runs through the picture like a sweet, sad perfume. Thus, "Tokyo Joe," minor Bogey that it is, is still preferable to some other lesser Bogart films, such as "Battle Circus" and "Chain Lightning." And it is, needless to say, required viewing for all Bogey completists.

Several years ago I stumbled upon a 35 cent biography of Humphrey Bogart written shortly after his death. In it he comments on many of his films, including Tokyo Joe. "Utterly worthless picture" he noted. Many critics agree as they dismiss this piece of hokum about what happens when a former soldier returns to what was his "home town" before the war. Thing have changed. It is not the paradise it once was to him and it is certainly no "Rick's" Instead of "As Time Goes By" we hear "These Foolish Things," a better song but not nearly as famous.Tokyo Joe was made not long after Bogey had left Warner Brothers and it has more than a whiff of a "message picture" that strikes to find some meaning in postwar Tokyo. But like "House Of Bamboo" this film works not only as melodrama but as historical artifact of a period that is now forgotten. We don't think of the Japanese as a defeated power. Ever since the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry started blowing away American competition we have thought of the Japanese as a superpower economically, not as a crippled defeated country. This film captures a mood that is rarely expressed in movies and it captures it with rather high production values. The rest of the cast isn't much but they play it straight and thus Tokyo Joe stands up even better after the initial viewing. The DVD transfer is very good and it remains a worthy addition to the Bogart canon.