La pagode en flammes

During the early days after America's entry into WWII, Hollywood cranked up the pro-war propaganda machine to both explain and justify our late participation and urgent need to catch up in the global battle against fascism. This pre-Pearl Harbor story concerns one he-man opportunist's efforts to juggle the bad guys and bad (?) girls with questionable motives. At times it looks like a film noir and other times a spy romance/melodrama, but with cynical dialogue by the master Ben Hecht and tough-guy direction by Henry Hathaway, this chop suey has enough meat and potatoes to satisfy. Example of the catchy language: George Montgomery says to sexy Lynn Bari, "I like you because you're everything a girl should be, 115 pounds of lies, venom and kisses." Another line has spy Victor McLaglen reporting the only Japanese he could translate from a secret document was the number 7 and the word Pearl!!! Oh - and the reason most folks will be watching - the China Girl, Gene Tierney is scrumptious!

China Girl is about an American newsreel cameraman, Johnny Williams (George Montgomery). The Japanese military in a Japanese occupied part of China detained him and hire him to photograph the building of the Burma Road. Johnny steals what he believes are press credentials- instead, they are the military orders for Pearl Harbor.

While they are holding him, he manages to escape with the help of a Canadian soldier (Victor Mclaglen) and his friend (Lynn Bari).

Later, he meets an old friend who wants him to join the Flying Tigers. But Johnny is out for Johnny, offering several people 50 percent of what he will make for Burma Road footage if they will stake him and buy him equipment, as the Japanese confiscated his.

Unaware that the Japanese are desperate to have their orders returned and are after him, he falls head over heels for gorgeous Haoli (Gene Tierney) who is half-Chinese. They fall in love, but she is committed to helping her father (Philip Ahn) with his school in Kunming. Learning the Japanese are en route to attack Kunming, Johnny rushes to save her.

Somewhat convoluted plot, though the end is very powerful. Gene Tierney doesn't have much to do but look ravishing until the film is nearly over.

George Montgomery was one handsome hunk of man, a former prizefighter with a magnificent physique, an architect, and known for the beautiful bronze busts he made. One small problem. He couldn't act his way out of a phone booth.

This role called for him to be cynical. Well, every line came out of the side of his mouth, no variation. Not that the dialogue, peppered with babes, dames, all the slang of the day helped.

Directed by Henry Hathaway, and very routine.

I'm a big Gene Tierney fan, so I tuned into this one with some eagerness, hoping to see a film that captured pre-WWII tensions in SE Asia and gave the luscious actress some room to shine. And while Gene does have a few moments of brilliance, the rest of the film is a mish-mash of good and bad elements. The whole is somewhat less than satisfying.

My biggest problem is that this film doesn't really know what it wants to be: action movie, spy/war thriller, romance, drama, or anti-Japanese war propaganda. The script tries to be all things to all people and ends up satisfying no one. Plot elements are left hanging unresolved. One line of tough guy dialog is followed by another trying to stir hearts about the plight of the Chinese nationalists. What a mess! George Montgomery is a poor man's Clark Gable, and he's almost a caricature in this film - tough guy only looking out for himself who falls hard for a "dame" caught up in the mess that was China and Burma in 1941. Though Tierney gets top billing, it's really Montgomery's film, and he's not up to carrying it. He's pretty good at the action stuff, but he's lost in the romantic scenes. Plus, his comedic timing is way off. It doesn't help him that the screenwriter gave him some terribly cheesy dialog.

There is little depth to any of the supporting cast, although Robert Blake gives a scene-stealing performance as a young Burmese kid (of all things) that pals around with our hero in Mandalay.

There are some good elements here - some exotic shots that appear to be on location (if they're backlot, they fooled me), and a wonderful set in the hotel in Mandalay. The action scenes often move well. The movie doesn't pull punches, either - we see Chinese civilians being mowed down by Japanese machine guns, and our hero crawls across a ditch of dead bodies in an early escape scene. This is more grim than I expected from a film more than 60 years old, and it's effectively done.

But overall, I can't recommend this film to hardly anyone. There are better films about Japanese brutality in SE Asia during WWII ("Bridge on the River Kwai" or "Objective, Burma") and certainly better films for Tierney fans (my recs - "Laura", "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", and "Leave Her to Heaven"). Give this one a pass and consign it to the history books.

I'm a big fan of George Montgomery films--and he looks rugged & handsome, as always, in this one. Both Gene Tierney & Lynn Bari fall in love with him and, frankly, who can blame them. He plays an American newsreel cameraman in Burma & China just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After escaping from a Japanese prison, he goes to Mandalay where he meets & falls in love with Gene Tierney. He has a booklet containing some vital military info--so there are spy's on his trail. George Montgomery had a long Hollywood career & he was always interesting to watch (and,frankly, I see little comparison between him & Mr. Gable

This is an underrated film that has received reviews too dismissing, I feel. I agree with the above reviewer on some of its shortcomings, but would also point out that there is a very nice tension set up between Gene Tierney and Lynn Bari throughout most of the story — which certainly had me watch it through to the very end. Contrary to other opinions, Tierney fans will not be disappointed here, although I agree she doesn't truly shine as in some others; and Lynn Bari is at her best and definitely makes us wish she had been given more prominent parts. Some feel that Bari actually makes this movie, but this may be going too far. Moreover, I don't believe China Girl was ever intended as a war movie per se, rather a drama. The war-scene ending just happens to be the bitter twist that closes what is essentially a war-time drama between a guy and two gals — it's no more complex than that.

Also, the camera is no slouch either, in this movie. It has excellent shots in the hotel rooms where much of the action takes place, giving it a somewhat noir feel that definitely generates an overall stylish period polish that is in synch with the true noirs of the period. If you like this style, as I do, China Girl is worth seeking out. One can only hope that it will eventually become part of a Tierny Collection. I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed!