Cina

Why the hate over this film? I have to disagree. Called a quickie B movie, getting as much work out of Alan Ladd as the studio could pre-stardom(?) - the site reviews go to town.

I wasn't aware that Ladd hadn't hit stardom when this film was made - that's baloney. A B movie? With that incredible opening scene and those effects? Starring Ladd, Bendix, and Loretta Young?

This is a propaganda film. Ladd plays an opportunist who sells oil to the Japanese. One night his truck is basically taken over by Young, who is a teacher, desperate to get her female students to safety.

Ladd of course winds up joining the fight after tragedy strikes. Some very exciting and sad scenes.

And yes, the Japanese are portrayed as monsters, as they are any time it is shown what they did to the Chinese people.

Young, Ladd, Bendix, Philip Ahn, and Marianne Quon give excellent performances as do the rest of the cast.

You may notice that Bendix and Ladd often worked together in films. They were best friends and neighbors.

Always interesting to see how Ladd's height is handled. Don't believe reports that he was 5'6" or 5'7". His nickname was Tiny when the average American male's height was 5'8".

Very good film, very absorbing.

Alan Ladd is a guy making an easy buck in the war between Japan and the Nationalist Chinese forces, selling oil products to the advancing Japanese. He has William Bendix working for him, and Bendix is a little soft in the heart, rescuing Chinese babies in bombed out cities and so forth. Then they are joined by missionary Loretta Young, who persuades Ladd against his better judgment to fill his truck with young Chinese girls and head west before the Japanese get them. But one girl jumps off the truck to go take care of her parents. It's Ladd who goes to find her, and what he sees changes his mind about this being a place to just make a buck.

Until just after the halfway mark it's a straightforward adventure, with Ladd in cynical mode. After that it turns into a propaganda piece, and this being wartime, there's one Code-breaking shot as one of the Chinese commandos drives a knife into a Japanese soldier in full view. Cameraman Leo Tover shoots it and other shots in strongly shadowed light, and shoots the sort of 'group portrait' shot that director John Farrow liked to use, when he isn't shooting the leads in close-up. It's the sort of propaganda adventure movie that the studios were making during the Second World War, and putting some strong leads in. Fortunately for the budget, you've got Ladd and Miss Young on the first card, Bendix gets his name alone n the second, and the third card has five actors, all of them Asian Americans, including Philip Ahn and Sen Yung.

Paramount Studios Rushed this one to Utilize Their New Star Alan Ladd who was about to be Drafted and Serve.

Ladd does a Good Job Playing First a Cynical, Self-Serving American Selling Oil to Japan and Turning a Blind-Eye to Their Atrocities Heaped Upon Civilians.

He is Forced to Join with the Natives and Help Them through Circumstances and First-Hand Witnessing the Evil.

The Film is Famous for its Brutal and Uncompromising Look.

There is a Gut-Wrenching Rape Scene where a Local Teenager is Raped by Three of Japan's Soldiers.

But Not Before They Kill a Toddler "Adopted" by William Bendix and Loretta Young with Ladd Playing an Uncle Part.

This Sends the American Oil Runner Off the Edge and He Unleashes an All-Out Attack on Trailing Japanese Units.

The Violence is Cutting-Edge War Realism and the Movie is One of the Best of the War Years,

Portraying the Japs, Based on Facts, as Inhuman Godless, Soulless Barbarians.

The Propaganda Posters Write Themselves with the Reality of the China v Japan War and the Invaders Disregard for Civilians, Including Women and Children.

Bendix, Young, and Ladd were the Only Americans in the Film with the Remainder of the Cast Chinese.

Odd, Off-Beat Film that is Virtually Unknown and Didn't even Get a Digital Release Until Recently.

Little Seen, Unacknowledged, and Underrated Effort from Hollywood that Deserves a New Look.

One of John Farrow's Best Non-Noirs.

During WWII, American film studios made tons of films featuring the enemy as monsters...snarling, drooling, evil monsters. Much of this is understandable....the country was at war. But many of these depictions went way overboard...so much so that the films seem very dated today. "China", unlike some of the more severe depictions of the enemy, is actually a bit more realistic. In fact, it's so realistic in spots that the film is much more brutal and frank than you'd expect from a Post-Code American picture.

The story is set in China just before the US entered the war in 1941. China, in contrast to the US, had been at war with China for about a decade...with Japan invading eastern China and in many cases eliminating the locals completely. So, when the film show the Japanese army doing ethnic cleansing, it's actually pretty realistic...ugly...but realistic. In addition, rapes and murders of civilians were common...and the film actually manages to show much more than I'd expect. I also mention this because the film CAN be hard to watch in places...especially in the portion where there is a rape and murders of a family. Because of this, it's far better than the average wartime propaganda movie.

Alan Ladd and William Bendix star as Americans who work for an oil company. This work brought them to China...and Ladd's character, in particular, seems more than willing to sell to the Japanese or Chinese. However, through the course of the story, he sees more and more of the Japanese atrocities and eventually joins the resistence wholeheartedly. Along for the ride is a missionary lady (Loretta Young).

A few things about the film could have been better. In particular, the casting was odd. Ladd was fine in his usual grumpy disaffected role, but Young and Bendix were all wrong. Young plays an American born and raised in China...and she seems as Chinese-American as a taco! Bendix isn't as bad, but he's supposed to be from Oregon...but he sure sounds like Brooklyn (though he apparently was from Manhattan).

On the positive side, the film did not shy away from things and was BRUTAL. While the rape was not shown, it was STRONGLY implied and you could hear the screams. As for the killing, much of it was in hand-to-hand combat and was amazingly harsh for 1943. I appreciate that, as too often war films make war seem fun or easy...here, there is great sacrifice and realism as a result. Overall, very well worth watching and one of Ladd's best.

This 1943 film, is in the realms of an Indiana Jones movie, with Alan Ladd wearing the leather jacket and black fedora hat.

I have to admit that the makers of this film, did a good job in creating China within their own native Hollywood.

Alan Ladd and Loretta Young both give good performances, who help a group of young Chinese students escape from the invading Japanese armies.

The supporting cast also give good performances.

There are lots of good action scenes, and the cinematography is excellent.

When I watched this film on dvd, I found the quality of the print, that was used to transfer this movie onto dvd was in perfect condition.