Moderately effective pre-Pearl Harbor set WWII flight-to-freedom story (PLOT: In Japanese-invaded China, politically neutral American gas dealer picks a side to fight for) undercuts its strength going from specific responses to something as generic as its title. Not that Paramount execs cared. What they were looking for was the right vehicle to carry new star Alan Ladd over from the ‘Good’ Bad Man roles that established him a year back (THIS GUN FOR HIRE/’42) into full-blown heroics. Normally disinterested director John Farrow gins up the opening with a minute-long single-take shot as Ladd partner William Bendix dashes thru a Chinese city under aerial attack. Then lengthens the unbroken take with a repeated optical printing trick to add another half-minute. Not really Farrow’s style. Did freshly Oscar-nominated lenser Leo Tover come up with the idea? (And why is it not celebrated?) Pity, nothing that follows is as showy or fun. Instead, Loretta Young and her gaggle of lovely Chinese students commandeer Ladd’s truck to take them to safety. Various atrocities along the way, coming from wartime Japanese racist stereotypes. (Real atrocity footage from the period far harder to watch.) Not all the F/X convinces, but the model planes are cleverly used & half a rocky mountain pass gets blasted for a finale. But too much in here could have fit just as nicely into any dangerous dash-to-freedom film.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Ladd, famously on the short side (5'6"), but loaded with movie star glam, gets a chance to display his Olympics trained physique at a time when such well-defined torsos were rare for top Hollywood actors.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Check out the billing order after Ladd and Young get above the title and Bendix right below, the next five positions all actual Asian actors, if not all Chinese. Still, a nice touch.
No comments:
Post a Comment