Sob o Céu da China

Politics in china, during world war two. A japanese prisoner must be kept alive so he can stand trial, per chen ta (quinn). American doctor thompson ( randolph scott) comes back to to the hospital with his new american bride (ellen drew). The premise is just ridiculous! What doctor would bring his new bride to a place that is getting bombed daily? And what silly, glamorous, new bride would want to go to such a place knowing before she arrived that it is an active target daily? And the silly bride constantly accuses hubby of cheating with female doctor durand (warrick). We spend a lot of time listening to the accusations from the bride. A lot of exaggerated people and personalities, to make sure the audience back home gets the patriotic message. Lots of stock war footage. Lots of fake, pigeon chinese-american language spoken by everyone. Some spy intrigue. Directed by ray enright, who had started with mack sennett! Story by pearl buck, who also wrote dragon seed and good earth! An okay film from rko.

Randolph Scott started off his career in a variety of 1930s films, and when WWII started, he supported the troops (since an injury from the previous war prevented him from obtaining a commission) both by live performances and by making war pictures. Of course, in the 1950s, he exclusively made westerns. So if you want to catch him playing a medical doctor, you've only got two chances: Broken Dreams and China Sky.

In China Sky, Scottie runs a hospital in war-torn China. He's competent, fair, understanding, and has the love of a good woman by his side - only he doesn't know it. His faithful nurse, Ruth Warrick, is totally (and silently) in love with him. She knows his only passion is medicine, and during the uncertain wartime years, he couldn't possibly think of anything else but helping the wounded. Or can he?

I really liked this movie. It's not your typical war movie, and it's not your typical medical drama. The romance, while not the main focal point, is also compelling. Scottie does a great job, speaking Chinese and convincing the audience that he knows what he's doing on the operating table. If you only know him from his westerns, rent this movie. You'll also see a large number of Asian actors (and Anthony Quinn in his pre-stardom) with sizable parts, which was very unusual at the time and very much appreciated: Richard Loo, Benson Fong, H. T. Tsiang, and of course veteran actor Philip Ahn.

China has been fighting for eight years against the Japanese. Dr. Gray Thompson (Randolph Scott) and Dr. Sara Durand (Ruth Warrick) are struggling to maintain their hospital with the war approaching. To her surprise, Gray is return with a wife (Ellen Drew). Chen-Ta (Anthony Quinn), leader of the local militia, brings in an injured Japanese war criminal.

This is old Hollywood and its yellow-face acting. It's not the best look and has not aged well. They do have some Asian actors in lesser roles. I was going to complain about Dr. Kim but there is a reason to have a Korean in the mix. As for the three white roles, I don't like the glam-up. It really doesn't fit the harsh reality of war. I can see the wife being a fish out of water. The other two should not be well dressed at all. It really destroys the realism of the war. At the end of the day, this is a propaganda film in the closing days of the war. It shows the dire war situation in China but the pulpy love triangle is bothersome. It is less than what it should be.

One of the most popular American authors of the 20th Century was Pearl S. Buck. A daughter of Presbyterian missionaries in China she developed a real love for the people there and her novels beginning with The Good Earth popularized China and its people in the USA.

Though her work remained popular, Buck never equaled what she did in The Good Earth as literature. She also never took note of other trends developing in China and she became quite the apologist for the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shek with both its strengths and weaknesses.

Indirectly Buck was one of the people responsible for the Red Scare and the great question of who lost China in the USA as if it was our's to lose. Her work so popularized the Chinese here that when China went Communist in 1949, the shock was so great that it had to be some kind of conspiracy at work. So we went hunting for the conspirators.

Randolph Scott and Ruth Warrick are the kind of medical missionaries Buck idealized. Ruth's crushing on Randy real bad, but he can't see her except as a work partner. As the film opens he's off in America trying to get better equipment for the mission. Scott brings back a society wife in Ellen Drew also and the hostility between the two women develops immediately. Very similar to the plot line in The Good Earth where Paul Muni takes a second wife, a kind of Chinese trophy wife.

Meanwhile guerrilla leader Anthony Quinn brings a wounded Japanese Colonel played by Richard Loo to the mission. He wants him healed so he can be tried for war crime atrocities, a very early mention of that concept.

Loo made a career in playing nasty Japanese folks during World War II and after. Played them all with a Fu Manchu kind of sneer. He's a shrewd article though as he works on the jealousies of both Drew and Korean doctor Philip Ahn who's crushing out himself on Carol Thurston who has eyes for Quinn.

Romance, jealousy, and war are the hallmarks of China Sky. This story set in a remote corner of western China is a bit much to believe. Spoiled society brat that she is, the viewer is going to have a lot of trouble with Drew's pouting about the fact that this little village ain't Park Avenue. Was she that dumb that she didn't know what she was getting into?

Today we could never get away with casting occidental types like Anthony Quinn and Carol Thurston as Chinese even though both give fine performances. Quinn especially. Quinn, Jose Ferrer, and J. Carrol Naish probably played more ethnic types than any other players in film history.

War of some kind was a factor in China from the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911 until the Communists won in 1949. The issues are very complex and a film like China Sky isn't the venue for a discussion of same.

China Sky is interesting as it shows a side of WWII that is seldom seen, the war in China. Few realize the enormity of what the Japanese did to China and it is seldom seen on television or in the movies. This gives at least a glimpse into that world.

The story was written by Pearl S. Buck. It has some of the worst dialog I've seen in a movie in many years. The story is predictable, and there is not one thing in the plot that comes as a surprise. The acting is a bit better than the dialog, but that really isn't saying much.

This movie is worth watching if for nothing else but the subject matter, but if one is expecting to be entertained please watch something else.