Bombs Over Burma

Anna May Wong is a school teacher, and dedicated to the cause of China. She is at Lashio boarding a truck convoy back to Burma with a an assortment of strangers, taking the Burma Road back to China. A bridge is out on the route, and while men work at restoring it, the group takes refuge in a monastery. It soon becomes apparent that the Japanese are uncannily precise about destroying such convoys. One of their number, or perhaps one of thee monks, is giving information to the enemy.

The copy I looked at was in very poor shape, and the fact that PRC was the company producing this was no recommendation, but the director was Joseph Lewis. Between Miss Wong and him, I decided to take a look. With Robert E. Cline as the cinematographer, I could see that the compositions were excellent, and the camera moved to maintain compositions. There was a good deal of suspense throughout the movie. Perhaps a good copy would raise my opinion, but what is there suggests a decent little wartime thriller.

Some B movies transcend, others lower themselves into the "so bad t's funny' category. But most fall into the general category of 'good B-movie" - entertaining but forgettable.

This film can be enjoyed as a good B-movie, If one doesn't know much of film history, there it ends - a solid B- movie from the early '40s.

But pay attention! I've watched this film several times - it's actually difficult to watch, the scene where the young boy gets wasted by Japanese machine gun fire is not fun. But the images keep pulling me along.

This is a great film, for two reasons. First, director Lewis, cinematographer Cline and editor Henkel are using the film to work out knowledge of film history that more mainstream studios would not have allowed then - Sergei Eisentein's influence is all over the film.

Secondly, Anna May Wong - a great actress relegated to small parts as the 'sultry Asian' - she is truly magnificent here, this performance would have won an Oscar for any other actress at a later time.

Yes it's still a B-movie plot and much of the dialog has to conform to that. But so much of this is rich in construction and detail that I insist it remains a classic - unrecognized but undeniable.

A good, tense story and Anna May Wong's leading performance more than make up for this World War II feature's cheapish production and low-budget look. The story is interesting in itself, and it also serves the purpose of illuminating a vital but little-remembered aspect of the world war. Wong also gets support from some of the other cast members, although most of them are well below her stature as a performer.

The setup has Wong as a schoolteacher who is helping to keep the Burma Road supply line open, despite enemy raids and other problems. The main part of the movie comes when she and a bus load of fellow passengers are stuck in a remote monastery along the supply line, as it becomes increasingly clear that one of their little group is a traitor who is tipping off the Japanese Air Force so that they can destroy the supply convoys.

The story is told effectively, and even the low-budget look often actually aids in setting the atmosphere. The suspense is maintained rather well for an extended time, and the story keeps you guessing as long as possible as to just how things will turn out.

The down side includes the dialogue, which is not nearly as good as the story, and some of the flat supporting performances. Dan Seymour is an exception, in a smaller role as the kind of lowlife that he always portrayed convincingly. As Sir Roger, Leslie Denison gives a rather plain performance for most of the movie, but he redeems himself with a fine wordless performance in the tense climactic scene. Nedrick Young has a couple of good moments as an American truck driver, and Connie Leon does a decent job of providing comic relief in her scene as a Burmese bureaucrat.

"Bombs Over Burma" and "Lady From Chungking" both starred Wong, and were both made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, but both benefit considerably from Wong's presence, and both were worthwhile in drawing attention to the often forgotten part of the war that was fought on mainland Asia.

"Bombs Over Burma" is a cheap B-movie from PRC...a tiny production company that specialized in making cheap, crappy B-movies! Usually, when I see that a movie is from PRC, I significantly lower my expectations! This film, it turns out, is no exception.

When the film begins, a teacher (Anna May Wong) is alarmed because the town is being attacked by Japanese planes. However, one of the children in the class is amazingly dim....and instead of seeking shelter, this terrible little actor dances about...enjoying the Japanese carnage! Soon, he's assuming room temperature...and his death scene is unintentionally funny. Soon, the teacher is recruited for a mission to help her people...and she ends up stuck on the Burma Road with several others. Soon, it becomes apparent that one of them is in league with the Japanese...and they need to figure it out quickly.

Apart from the overuse of stock footage as well as the bad acting by the child, the film is amazingly dull considering it's all about war. Watchable but honestly I had a hard time sticking with this one.

So much more could have been done with this production if it had been better funded. always nice to see Anna May Wong