No Umbral da China

Overtly the master Samuel Fuller spotlight and approaching the mix-up of the ethnicities on some pictures for instance as "The Crimson Kimono", "House of Bamboo" and now "China Gate" all them prospecting this neuralgic issue, here exposing the American Sgt. Brock (Gene Barry) that was involved and married a half-breed China girl Lucy (Angie Dickinson) when she gets pregnant, the Sgt. Brock supposed that his son should be more Caucasian than Chinese, well the boy actually was born with a true Chinese kind, daunted he refuses the boy and soon disappears, Lucy comes into depression, on erratic life on prostitution and diving deeply on alcoholism, after seven years in absence the bleak Sgt. Brock was designed to a hard assignment at Indochina when he meets again the doll Lucy legs which she got the nickname for your beauty legs always allures the key persons thought her exotic beauty, also he meets his son, the French Army calls Lucy for a fair deal, if she guide the bomb squad at China Gate where the commies are storing a huge secret arsenal of bombs and guns underneath of the mountain, his son should be expatriate to America as American citizen, due his father really is, using several stock footage and almost shot at sound studio this movie has their enchants, touching in the racism, also enforces the virtue of democracy against the reds system, which the men weren't master of their own destiny, as far I remember Angie Dickinson was pretty than never, young and gorgeous, the famous and charismatic black singer Nat King Cole is another precious and colorful character, without forget the famous squad "The Big Red One" was quote for first time in this picture, that will be the smashing success and seminal masterpiece of Fuller on the future!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

Decent adventure and suspense movie from Samuel Fuller with full of crossfire, drama, fights and violence. Action , adventure , war movie by the great Samuel Fuller in which Gene Barry leads a group of soldiers through the jungle and battling feared communists. Set in 1954, during the French Indochina War, near the end of the French phase of the Vietnam War, a group of mercenaries from the French Foreign Legion are recruited to travel through enemy territory to the Chinese border, to infiltrate enemy territory in order to fly a weapons depot. A Eurasian smuggler, Lucky Legs (Angie Dickinson), agrees to use her connections to help them, in exchange for bringing her son to the United States. The boy's racist father, Sergeant Brock (Gene Evans), is also part of the multinational group. Lucky Legs must use the love of a Eurasian guerrilla leader, Major Cham (Lee Van Cleef), to gain access to the base. In 1954, the Battle of Ðien Bien Phu was fought between the Viet Minh, under the command of General Vo Nguyen Giap, against the French Expeditionary Force in the Far East commanded by General Henri Navarra. It took place around the village of Dien Bien Phu and was the last battle of the Indochina War. Love and war in French Indochina! An American bomber trapped in love in a China at war!

An exciting and spectacular war adventure in which a group of multinational troops follows an officer against a communist stronghold in China to destroy a weapons depot. It is a violent adventure film that gained notoriety for its racial themes and notorious war scenes. The mainstream film was considerably criticized by filmmaker Fuller for its action and violence. Weak male leads, Gene Barry, Paul Dubov, Lee Van Cleef , George Givot, Maurice Marsac, Gerald Milton, James Hong, but Angie Dickinson shines as a Eurasian smuggler. This release gave Anie Dickinson her best character in years and her most compelling performance as she is truly magnificent.

It contains a sensitive and rousing musical score from Victor Young and Max Steiner. Victor Young had started composing the film score when he died at age 57. His friend Max Steiner, borrowed from Warner Bros, then shaped Mr. Young's notations and completed the soundtrack. The screen credit reads: "Music by Victor Young, extended by his old friend Max Steiner" . And Nat 'King' Cole who acts as soldier Goldie, performs, of course, some charming songs, such as: ¨China Gate¨, music by Victor Young and lyrics Harold Adamson. The movie displays an evocative and atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Joseph F. Biroc, though well set in Vietnam; however, being shot in the US : Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Springs Drive, Los Ángeles, California, Estados Unidos . The motion picture was competently made by Samuel Fuller. Fuller being especially known as filmmaker of such exploitation films as ¨Shock corridor¨ and ¨The naked kiss¨ where he proved his talent of vision and intelligence . Fuller made various Westerns as ¨I shot Jesse James(49)¨, ¨The baron of Arizona (50)¨, ¨Run of the arrow¨ (56) , ¨Forty guns(58)¨, and ¨The meanest men in the West (76)¨ , but his most fluid and strongest work lies in his war films as ¨Steel helmet (51)¨ , ¨Fixed bayonets (52)¨, ¨Hell and high water (55)¨, ¨China gate (57)¨ , ¨Merrill's Marauders (62)¨ and ¨The Big Red One (80)¨. Being his best films : ¨Pick up on South Street¨(53) , ¨Underworld Usa¨(60) and ¨White Dog¨(82) . ¨China Gate¨ rating: 6.5/10. The film is itself above average .

As any historian will tell you, France ruled over Indochina - comprising three territories known today as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - until its military defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, causing the Ho Chi Mihn-led communists to expand from the northern part of Vietnam, Hanoi as capital, to take the southern part, with Saigon the capital.

Samuel Fuller built up a reputation as writer of such staple screenplays as THE STEEL HELMET, SHOCKPROOF, HELL AND HIGH WATER, and director of his acknowledged masterpiece, PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953).

CHINA GATE (1957) does not rate as highly as any of those efforts, but it provides a most interesting insight into the last days of French rule over Indochina and the circumstances that led to the United States deploying forces in southern Vietnam to prevent it falling under the communist sphere.

The screenplay suffers from unevenness but generally holds your attention by depicting the perils of a war against a determined enemy, and, especially, by curvaceous Angie Dickinson, one of the most beautiful women ever to grace the screen and soon to become closely connected with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and President John F Kennedy. In this film, she plays the half-breed who has had a child by Gene Barry and wants that child to become a US citizen, and to that end she is willing to make all sacrifices.

Gene Barry leaves something to be desired. He is not a bad actor, he looks the part of a soldier, but somehow he looks short-changed throughout. Unexpectedly to me, because the only other part I saw him in was in CAT BALLOU singing the film's theme ballad, the famous crooner Nat King Cole delivers a far more convincing performance as a fellow soldier.

Highly competent B&W cinematography by Joseph Biroc.

Warrants watching, especially if you are interested in what led to the USA's decision to deploy military forces in Nam. In my humble view, THE DEER HUNTER and APOCALIPSE NOW are the masterpieces that reflect best the consequences of that ill-fated move. 7/10.

Sam Fuller's worst war film is worth watching-or at least scanning-for several reasons. The most obvious is the bizarre casting. Then there is the unpersuasive attempt to recreate Vietnam on a studio backlot,which would be duplicated with not much more success years later by Stanley Kubrick in Full Metal Jacket(1987). Finally,both the screw loose plotting and the rabid Red-baiting have become unintentionally comic with the passage of time. This was in fact Sam Fuller's first-ever film for a major Hollywood studio(Twentieth Century-Fox)and his first to be presented in full widescreen Cinemascope.

A voice-over introduction sets a hyperbolic tone: "With the end of the Korean War,France was left alone to hold the hottest front in the world and became the barrier between Communism and the rape of Asia." Moments later,we learn that because the dirty Reds have put the Vietnamese town of Sun Toy under siege,a little boy's(Warren Hsieh)pet puppy is about to be eaten! Presumably because 1957,American audiences did not know much about the country or the war,Fuller spends most of the first act spinning out a fanciful interpretation of the situation,blaming many of the country's problems on the Chinese Communists and their massive underground ammunition bunker at China Gate. The French Legionaires decide it to blow it up,and call in explosives expert Sgt. Brock(Gene Barry). The only person who can lead them from Sun Toy to China Gate is Lucky Legs(Angie Dickinson in one of her first major roles),who is allegedly half-Chinese. She's also Brock's ex,and if that weren't enough,the kid with the puppy is their son! That's doubly hard to believe because the stars generate all the sexual chemistry of two wet paper towels. Not to mention in 1957,white actors or actresses were playing roles of minorities,whether Latino or Asian or Arabian were stereotypical then.

After that's been established,the already pokey action stops cold for Goldie(Nat "King" Cole) to not only demonstrate his acting abilities but also sings the theme song. Then off they go,with a half dozen or so more Legionaires and a couple of boxes of highly explosive detonators. At every opportunity.one or more of these guys bears his tortured soul,and as they get closer to the Chicorns,it becomes apparent that our girl Lucky has been a sort of one-woman welcoming committee whose mission is to boost morale in every way that she can. All the guys know her because she makes regular visits to the Chinese to deliver cognac and sex,even though her main squeeze is the commander of China Gate,Maj. Cham(Lee Van Cleef),yet another half-Chinese who is in line for a promotion to Moscow.

With only a few exceptions,the combat scenes are as phony as the rest. They were filmed on cheap-looking sets with little originality or energy. Nothing on screen comes as close to Fuller's better work in "The Steel Helmet",and "The Big Red One". Still,"China Gate" is instructive. It's a perfect example of Hollywood's attempt to turn every post-war conflict into another World War II. When the film does try to draw any distinctions,it still reduces the action to good guys versus bad guys. If a few Americans will just go over there and blow up stuff and shoot some guys,those benighted foreigners will see the error of their ways and everything will straighten itself out. That's a bit of oversimplification,but given the loopy politics of China Gate,it's not too far off the mark. It misses it.

The film contains beautiful war scenery with buildings and parts of streets completely destroyed. The other part of the sets are jungle sets built in a studio where the film will take place at night.

The interest of the film is to show the war in Indochina led by the French. It is about a French army commando with an American who will try to destroy an arms depot to avoid that the French parts of Indochina are bombed by the communists.

This pretext allows Samuel Fuller to build an effective war film, but also to talk about subjects such as racism and psychological problems related to war.

Samuel Fuller does not show heroes, because none of the characters are heroes, except perhaps Angie Dickinson who plays an Indochinese woman who has had a child with an American. She helps the commando to get through the jungle to the communist village that houses the weapons.

One of the curiosities of the film is Lee Van Cleef in a very short role who plays the communist leader of the Indochinese. Curiosity, because it is a character with dialogues (his filmography has often used him in roles with few words).

Otherwise, the Samuel Fuller system works well: a mix of studio shots, real set shots, documentary stock shots, edited together; or else, the dialogues are ampouled at times, but they are effective. And a rather effective direction of actor who makes that each of the characters has its function. The whole thing works quite well and remains captivating until the end. Obviously one of the messages of the film is also to show the horror, the stupidity and the absurdity of war.

That is to say that we are not in the subtlety, the messages of Samuel Fuller are well inserted in a very insistent way so that the spectator captures them well.

All in all, the film remains very interesting, because there are very few films about French soldiers during the Indochina war!