...with Preston Foster and Robert Preston as a pair of Americans running a teak plantation in Burma. Preston is a devil-may-care type with an eye out for the ladies while Foster is the serious one trying to make a go of the plantation. Feminine interest is provided in the form of Dorothy Lamour as a stranded American showgirl (ever heard that one before?) in Rangoon, who will soon become a source of conflict (surprise, surprise) between the two men.
A minor film of this type is easy to dismiss but since so many of the smaller productions produced by Paramount Studios can be difficult to find, it's always interesting to at least have the opportunity to view one, even if, as in this case, a one time viewing will be sufficient.
For "excitement" the story throws in a (dull) forest fire and a log jam in a river, the latter having okay special effects for its time, I suppose, though nothing to compare to those at the end of Typhoon, which was another Paramount production of 1940 also co-starring Lamour with Preston. By the way, Preston and Foster were also to be seen sharing the screen together in one of Paramount's A list production of that same year, North West Mounted Police.
One of the more interesting scenes in Moon Over Burma occurs when Lamour is having a conversation with the teak plantation's blind owner (played by Albert Basserman). At one point the audience sees a cobra slide down the wall and onto the floor as the two are talking. Lamour sees nothing but Basserman suddenly turns rigid and warns her very softly that there is a cobra nearby.
I know that the other senses of the blind are supposed to be heightened but to hear a snake sliding across a hard floor (while another person is talking near you yet!) was, I must say, a pretty impressive feat, not to mention the fact that he was able to identify the exact kind of snake, as well.
