It's World War II in China. The Japanese are advancing and the Chinese and a handful of Americans are retreated. Among the Americans is James Stewart, an army engineer, and half a dozen of his men. Their task, should they choose to accept it, which of course they do, is to retreat to an Allied base a hundred or so miles away, blowing up the bridges after they cross them. The roads are choked with civilian refugees, and along the way, Stewart and his trucks are compelled to pick up a Chinese colonel and a young widow as passengers.
The Chinese colonel is played by Frank Silvera with a mustache. This guy deserves a decoration just for the number of different ethnic types he's played. He was a genetic chameleon. In real life, he was of mixed background, born in Jamaica, but he found a niche in Hollywood's go-anywhere ethnic roles. The young widow is Lisa Lu, born in Beijing. I don't mean to cast aspersions on her in any way. She's attractive and has the precise enunciation that sounds as if it belongs to a hostess of a late-night FM station that plays nothing but chamber music. If she says something like "immediate departure" she observes the original juncture and pronounces both the "t" and the following "d," whereas when Americans make the same utterance it comes out "immediadepature." But I must say, she isn't Zhang Ziyi, let alone Gong Li, with whom I am deeply in love. I can't understand why she doesn't respond to my many proposals of marriage but I suppose it's her loss. Still, if you have to travel over rough country, pursued by a dangerous enemy, Lisa Lu will be a serviceable traveling companion.
There are some welcome comic moment interpolated. Morgan and Stewart are arguing over some decision. Stewart sternly reminds Morgan that he, Stewart, is in command. "Oh, I understand. In this war your either a big wheel or a slob. I'm a slob too." "Come of it, Mike; you know I couldn't run this outfit without you." "Oh, that's because I'm a HELPFUL slob." "Well, what do you suggest." "I don't know, major, slobs don't have any brains." Something like that. It's actually kind of amusing in context.
Stewart's major is a pretty abrasive and instrumental customer. He's all business, impatient with the customs of the Chinese. He makes a report to a colonel at a way station and they insist he stay for tea and lunch, while he fidgets anxiously, dying to get under way. It doesn't help that Stewart's jeep and four trucks run into some of the usual problems during this kind of journey -- a bridge must be blown, leaving hundreds of poor Chinese on the other side; a merchant's dilapidated trucks blocks the road and must be pushed off the cliff; one of the men is seriously ill and there is neither medicine nor doctor around.
Stewart's men, by the way, include some of the more familiar and reliable supporting actors in the business: Mike Kellin, James Best, Rudy Bond, Glenn Corbett, and Henry "Harry" Morgan, who should make up his mind about his name. The soldier who gets sick can't act. The movie is to be applauded for not turning the Chinese into altruistic saints, a pattern that recurs in movies where soldiers have to deal with alien civilians. Corbett, the nice guy, the most sympathetic of the enlisted men, carries some extra food out to the refugees. The crowd turns savage and they beat him to death and run off with the loot. Later, one of the trucks is ambushed and several men killed, and Stewart exacts an awesome revenge.
It costs Stewart because he's grown fond of Luci Lu, as who wouldn't. He doesn't get the girl. She resents his killing of Chinese and they part before the end of the road is reached. He makes some plea about using "power" that sounds like mumbo jumbo. There are some nice special effects for those who enjoy seeing things blown up big time.
It's an adult movie. The relationships between the Americans and the Chinese are faithfully sketched in. The novel was written by Teddy White ("The Making of the President....") who had learned Chinese at Harvard and spent time there during the war. The political system, as we see it, and in real historical fact, was a chaotic collage of conflicting loyalties. Two major forces were trying to unify a huge country that was ruled by local warlords. The two forces were the Nationalists under Chiang Kai Sheck and the Communists under Mao Dz Dung. Both were fighting the Japanese and both were corrupt dictators manqué. Chiang was known for charging the Americans to let them build air bases in China in order to help him, Chiang, fight the Japanese. There were many deserters from both camps and bandits who owed allegiance to no party. And there we were, in the middle of all of it, just as we are today, as I write this.
The Chinese colonel is played by Frank Silvera with a mustache. This guy deserves a decoration just for the number of different ethnic types he's played. He was a genetic chameleon. In real life, he was of mixed background, born in Jamaica, but he found a niche in Hollywood's go-anywhere ethnic roles. The young widow is Lisa Lu, born in Beijing. I don't mean to cast aspersions on her in any way. She's attractive and has the precise enunciation that sounds as if it belongs to a hostess of a late-night FM station that plays nothing but chamber music. If she says something like "immediate departure" she observes the original juncture and pronounces both the "t" and the following "d," whereas when Americans make the same utterance it comes out "immediadepature." But I must say, she isn't Zhang Ziyi, let alone Gong Li, with whom I am deeply in love. I can't understand why she doesn't respond to my many proposals of marriage but I suppose it's her loss. Still, if you have to travel over rough country, pursued by a dangerous enemy, Lisa Lu will be a serviceable traveling companion.
There are some welcome comic moment interpolated. Morgan and Stewart are arguing over some decision. Stewart sternly reminds Morgan that he, Stewart, is in command. "Oh, I understand. In this war your either a big wheel or a slob. I'm a slob too." "Come of it, Mike; you know I couldn't run this outfit without you." "Oh, that's because I'm a HELPFUL slob." "Well, what do you suggest." "I don't know, major, slobs don't have any brains." Something like that. It's actually kind of amusing in context.
Stewart's major is a pretty abrasive and instrumental customer. He's all business, impatient with the customs of the Chinese. He makes a report to a colonel at a way station and they insist he stay for tea and lunch, while he fidgets anxiously, dying to get under way. It doesn't help that Stewart's jeep and four trucks run into some of the usual problems during this kind of journey -- a bridge must be blown, leaving hundreds of poor Chinese on the other side; a merchant's dilapidated trucks blocks the road and must be pushed off the cliff; one of the men is seriously ill and there is neither medicine nor doctor around.
Stewart's men, by the way, include some of the more familiar and reliable supporting actors in the business: Mike Kellin, James Best, Rudy Bond, Glenn Corbett, and Henry "Harry" Morgan, who should make up his mind about his name. The soldier who gets sick can't act. The movie is to be applauded for not turning the Chinese into altruistic saints, a pattern that recurs in movies where soldiers have to deal with alien civilians. Corbett, the nice guy, the most sympathetic of the enlisted men, carries some extra food out to the refugees. The crowd turns savage and they beat him to death and run off with the loot. Later, one of the trucks is ambushed and several men killed, and Stewart exacts an awesome revenge.
It costs Stewart because he's grown fond of Luci Lu, as who wouldn't. He doesn't get the girl. She resents his killing of Chinese and they part before the end of the road is reached. He makes some plea about using "power" that sounds like mumbo jumbo. There are some nice special effects for those who enjoy seeing things blown up big time.
It's an adult movie. The relationships between the Americans and the Chinese are faithfully sketched in. The novel was written by Teddy White ("The Making of the President....") who had learned Chinese at Harvard and spent time there during the war. The political system, as we see it, and in real historical fact, was a chaotic collage of conflicting loyalties. Two major forces were trying to unify a huge country that was ruled by local warlords. The two forces were the Nationalists under Chiang Kai Sheck and the Communists under Mao Dz Dung. Both were fighting the Japanese and both were corrupt dictators manqué. Chiang was known for charging the Americans to let them build air bases in China in order to help him, Chiang, fight the Japanese. There were many deserters from both camps and bandits who owed allegiance to no party. And there we were, in the middle of all of it, just as we are today, as I write this.