Teacher in a Chinese school goes on the road to uncover axis spies in China. Ending up in a monastery she and her fellow travelers witness the bombing of a convoy of trucks and it becomes clear that someone among them is a spy. Good wartime spy drama suffers from some padding in the driving scenes and an opening sequence of teacher Anna Mae Wong and her students that ends on a bathic note with an air raid with a conclusion that was probably over done when the film was made. Early flaws aside once the film gets on the road and gets to the monastery this is a good little thriller. To be certain its formulaic at times but there are a couple of twists ( for example how the spy gets the messages out for example and the fate of the foul villain) that make this worth your time (especially on a double bill with something else).
12 Reviews
wartime flick - Group must ferret out spy
ksf-224 January 2008
Anna May Wong is a Chinese school teacher Lin Yang, who is also a spy for the "good guys" during WW II. She is traveling with an international group, who must discover who is leaking information to the Japanese bombers. The story is pretty good, but the sound quality is poor in parts of the film, with quite a bit of static in the soundtrack. Also lots of stock wartime footage thrown in. I was quite impressed at how the women could keep their hair and makeup just perfect on this long, hard roadtrip. Leslie Denison ( Roger Howe ) was a busy guy in those days - made 12 films in 1942, and 14 in 1943, in large and small roles. Wong had just made Lady from Chunking, the year before, another Alexander/Stern production about wartime China. Astute viewers will recognize the large, annoying Dan Seymour (Brogranza), who had played Captain Renard in To Have and Have Not. Too bad they didn't give him a larger role in this film - might have helped spruce it up. Connie Leon, who was actually British, provides the only laughs as the Chinese customs agent who taunts each person in the group as they are questioned when leaving town. This was just the third film for Ned Young (Slim Jenkins), and only the second credited role for lovely blonde Teala Loring, who seems to be the daughter of Doctor somebody or other, going to Chunking to check on him. Entertaining film, quite short at 65 minutes. It was a little odd... in the credits for the film, they use the PRC symbol for "producers releasing corp", but that's also the abbreviation for "Peoples Republic of China"...
Chinese revenge
AAdaSC14 October 2015
Anna May Wong (Lin) is a schoolteacher assigned on a mission by the Chinese Resistance to discover who is tipping off the Japanese for bombing raids. Targets seem to be pinpointed with expert knowledge. On a bus journey, Wong and a cast of characters are held up at a monastery where it becomes obvious that the traitor is among them.
This film has a couple of memorable sequences – the beginning section at the school and the end section at the head of the convoy – that make it a better film than I had expected. There is also some humour thrown in from the naughty schoolboy. My wife and I laughed out loud when he is left in the classroom alone to throw all the schoolwork everywhere. He also has a funny moment where he knows he is wrong and gets up and puts on the naughty hat without any prompting. Very funny.
Unfortunately, the sound quality is poor and this does interfere with some of the dialogue but overall, given the different subject matter, it has to score for novelty value. It's a short film and it's OK entertainment while it lasts.
This film has a couple of memorable sequences – the beginning section at the school and the end section at the head of the convoy – that make it a better film than I had expected. There is also some humour thrown in from the naughty schoolboy. My wife and I laughed out loud when he is left in the classroom alone to throw all the schoolwork everywhere. He also has a funny moment where he knows he is wrong and gets up and puts on the naughty hat without any prompting. Very funny.
Unfortunately, the sound quality is poor and this does interfere with some of the dialogue but overall, given the different subject matter, it has to score for novelty value. It's a short film and it's OK entertainment while it lasts.
Good Story, Anna May Wong Make Up For Cheapish Production
Snow Leopard7 November 2005
A good, tense story and Anna May Wong's leading performance more than make up for this World War II feature's cheapish production and low-budget look. The story is interesting in itself, and it also serves the purpose of illuminating a vital but little-remembered aspect of the world war. Wong also gets support from some of the other cast members, although most of them are well below her stature as a performer.
The setup has Wong as a schoolteacher who is helping to keep the Burma Road supply line open, despite enemy raids and other problems. The main part of the movie comes when she and a bus load of fellow passengers are stuck in a remote monastery along the supply line, as it becomes increasingly clear that one of their little group is a traitor who is tipping off the Japanese Air Force so that they can destroy the supply convoys.
The story is told effectively, and even the low-budget look often actually aids in setting the atmosphere. The suspense is maintained rather well for an extended time, and the story keeps you guessing as long as possible as to just how things will turn out.
The down side includes the dialogue, which is not nearly as good as the story, and some of the flat supporting performances. Dan Seymour is an exception, in a smaller role as the kind of lowlife that he always portrayed convincingly. As Sir Roger, Leslie Denison gives a rather plain performance for most of the movie, but he redeems himself with a fine wordless performance in the tense climactic scene. Nedrick Young has a couple of good moments as an American truck driver, and Connie Leon does a decent job of providing comic relief in her scene as a Burmese bureaucrat.
"Bombs Over Burma" and "Lady From Chungking" both starred Wong, and were both made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, but both benefit considerably from Wong's presence, and both were worthwhile in drawing attention to the often forgotten part of the war that was fought on mainland Asia.
The setup has Wong as a schoolteacher who is helping to keep the Burma Road supply line open, despite enemy raids and other problems. The main part of the movie comes when she and a bus load of fellow passengers are stuck in a remote monastery along the supply line, as it becomes increasingly clear that one of their little group is a traitor who is tipping off the Japanese Air Force so that they can destroy the supply convoys.
The story is told effectively, and even the low-budget look often actually aids in setting the atmosphere. The suspense is maintained rather well for an extended time, and the story keeps you guessing as long as possible as to just how things will turn out.
The down side includes the dialogue, which is not nearly as good as the story, and some of the flat supporting performances. Dan Seymour is an exception, in a smaller role as the kind of lowlife that he always portrayed convincingly. As Sir Roger, Leslie Denison gives a rather plain performance for most of the movie, but he redeems himself with a fine wordless performance in the tense climactic scene. Nedrick Young has a couple of good moments as an American truck driver, and Connie Leon does a decent job of providing comic relief in her scene as a Burmese bureaucrat.
"Bombs Over Burma" and "Lady From Chungking" both starred Wong, and were both made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, but both benefit considerably from Wong's presence, and both were worthwhile in drawing attention to the often forgotten part of the war that was fought on mainland Asia.
Who's the evil one amongst them?
planktonrules5 April 2018
"Bombs Over Burma" is a cheap B-movie from PRC...a tiny production company that specialized in making cheap, crappy B-movies! Usually, when I see that a movie is from PRC, I significantly lower my expectations! This film, it turns out, is no exception.
When the film begins, a teacher (Anna May Wong) is alarmed because the town is being attacked by Japanese planes. However, one of the children in the class is amazingly dim....and instead of seeking shelter, this terrible little actor dances about...enjoying the Japanese carnage! Soon, he's assuming room temperature...and his death scene is unintentionally funny. Soon, the teacher is recruited for a mission to help her people...and she ends up stuck on the Burma Road with several others. Soon, it becomes apparent that one of them is in league with the Japanese...and they need to figure it out quickly.
Apart from the overuse of stock footage as well as the bad acting by the child, the film is amazingly dull considering it's all about war. Watchable but honestly I had a hard time sticking with this one.
When the film begins, a teacher (Anna May Wong) is alarmed because the town is being attacked by Japanese planes. However, one of the children in the class is amazingly dim....and instead of seeking shelter, this terrible little actor dances about...enjoying the Japanese carnage! Soon, he's assuming room temperature...and his death scene is unintentionally funny. Soon, the teacher is recruited for a mission to help her people...and she ends up stuck on the Burma Road with several others. Soon, it becomes apparent that one of them is in league with the Japanese...and they need to figure it out quickly.
Apart from the overuse of stock footage as well as the bad acting by the child, the film is amazingly dull considering it's all about war. Watchable but honestly I had a hard time sticking with this one.
if only it had a music score
ragamuffin77715 December 2019
Bombs Over Burma is my first time seeing a movie with Anna May Wong in it
tavm30 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
After several years of somewhat reading about this Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, I finally got to see her in a movie. In this one, she plays a school teacher in the Asian country who becomes a liaison to some supply trucks meant to aid in the battle against the enemy Japanese during World War II. Since this picture is from the poverty row PRC, it's length is a little more than an hour which is just as well since part of the time it seems padded with some scenes of trucks just moving without any dialogue or music to ease the monotony. Still, there is some dramatically compelling moments at the beginning with one of her students having some fun in hearing planes flying-not knowing what their target is-before his tragic ending and near the end when one of the bus passengers is discovered to be a spy who gets his comeuppance. The print I watched was quite fuzzy with a soundtrack that had some surface noise that made it hard to understand some of the dialogue though whoever ran the film at least silenced it when no sounds were supposed to come out on audio. In summary, Bombs Over Burma isn't quite good as a drama but isn't too bad as a mystery, either.
The spy on the bus
bkoganbing21 May 2014
Poverty Row PRC produced this film that stars Anna May Wong as a lovely and dedicated Chinese school teacher who joins the Chinese cause to defend her country from Japan's attacks. It's a cheap film, typical PRC, but one of the better products from that studio.
Bombs Over Burma has school teacher Wong first witnessing an attack on her village from the air where one of her little pupils is killed. After that she joins the cause and because she's a school teacher and presumably can read and write she gets into intelligence work.
Sometime later she's on a bus with a mixed group of international travelers that is forced to spend a night at a monastery. It's there she will ferret out the spy.
Don't look down the cast list to spot who might be the slim traitor. If you pick who I think you'll pick you'll be wrong.
For a PRC film it's not half bad.
Bombs Over Burma has school teacher Wong first witnessing an attack on her village from the air where one of her little pupils is killed. After that she joins the cause and because she's a school teacher and presumably can read and write she gets into intelligence work.
Sometime later she's on a bus with a mixed group of international travelers that is forced to spend a night at a monastery. It's there she will ferret out the spy.
Don't look down the cast list to spot who might be the slim traitor. If you pick who I think you'll pick you'll be wrong.
For a PRC film it's not half bad.
An Objective Critique -- 5 Stars
delriosong11 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This review contains spoilers
This film is a propaganda piece to highlight China's efforts to fight the Japanese. It focuses on a small group of strange companions traveling by bus to Chung King (Chongqing) in Southwest China. Anna May Wong stars as Lin Ying, an agent for the Chinese government travel under the guise of a school inspector. The group arrive at a monastery that serves as a bed a breakfast. While there the driver discovers that someone has stole the distributor from the bus. When a shady passenger who witnessed the act ends up with a knife in his back while no one sees anything is a convenient plot hole.
Now it's up to Lin Ying and the Head Monk with assistance from the bus driver to foil the Japanese spy among them save an important convoy coming into the interior of China from Burma.
Let's just break this film down by the numbers and let the chips fall where they may: A) Plot -- At least one plot hole too large to ignore -- 3 B) Characters -- Stereotypical portrayals of Chinese and an Arab character, additionally the good guys are brave and bold while the bad guys prove craven in the end -- 3 C) Acting -- Anna May Wong is charming and Nedrick Young as Slim Jenkins, the bus driver seems like a character one might know -- 6 D) Script -- The dialog is just a little too pumped-up with propaganda 1942 style -- 4 E) Direction -- A conventional job -- 5 F) Cinematography -- Many of the faces seem over lit in a number of scenes (My copy is not restored) -- 3 G) Editing -- Conventional but interesting when the agent was revealed to be a coward, used footage from actual combat which is near Ed Wood like in its continuity failure -- 4 H) Production Design -- B reel quality and quantity -- 4 I) Costume Design -- a pretty good effort, convincing -- 6 J) Stunts -- N/A K) Special & Visual Effects -- N/A L) Music -- a good score which helped set and sustain mood very well -- 7 M) Sound -- The sound on my copy was fairly bad with a lot of obvious damage, seems like it would be fine in 1942 or restored -- 5 N) Entertainment Value -- 4 Average 4.500. Call it 5. Pop some corn and enjoy what it offers.
This film features combat violence and three total killings and is not rated by the MPPA
This film is a propaganda piece to highlight China's efforts to fight the Japanese. It focuses on a small group of strange companions traveling by bus to Chung King (Chongqing) in Southwest China. Anna May Wong stars as Lin Ying, an agent for the Chinese government travel under the guise of a school inspector. The group arrive at a monastery that serves as a bed a breakfast. While there the driver discovers that someone has stole the distributor from the bus. When a shady passenger who witnessed the act ends up with a knife in his back while no one sees anything is a convenient plot hole.
Now it's up to Lin Ying and the Head Monk with assistance from the bus driver to foil the Japanese spy among them save an important convoy coming into the interior of China from Burma.
Let's just break this film down by the numbers and let the chips fall where they may: A) Plot -- At least one plot hole too large to ignore -- 3 B) Characters -- Stereotypical portrayals of Chinese and an Arab character, additionally the good guys are brave and bold while the bad guys prove craven in the end -- 3 C) Acting -- Anna May Wong is charming and Nedrick Young as Slim Jenkins, the bus driver seems like a character one might know -- 6 D) Script -- The dialog is just a little too pumped-up with propaganda 1942 style -- 4 E) Direction -- A conventional job -- 5 F) Cinematography -- Many of the faces seem over lit in a number of scenes (My copy is not restored) -- 3 G) Editing -- Conventional but interesting when the agent was revealed to be a coward, used footage from actual combat which is near Ed Wood like in its continuity failure -- 4 H) Production Design -- B reel quality and quantity -- 4 I) Costume Design -- a pretty good effort, convincing -- 6 J) Stunts -- N/A K) Special & Visual Effects -- N/A L) Music -- a good score which helped set and sustain mood very well -- 7 M) Sound -- The sound on my copy was fairly bad with a lot of obvious damage, seems like it would be fine in 1942 or restored -- 5 N) Entertainment Value -- 4 Average 4.500. Call it 5. Pop some corn and enjoy what it offers.
This film features combat violence and three total killings and is not rated by the MPPA
A classic for Wong and for "Poverty Row"
winner556 May 2011
Some B movies transcend, others lower themselves into the "so bad t's funny' category. But most fall into the general category of 'good B-movie" - entertaining but forgettable.
This film can be enjoyed as a good B-movie, If one doesn't know much of film history, there it ends - a solid B- movie from the early '40s.
But pay attention! I've watched this film several times - it's actually difficult to watch, the scene where the young boy gets wasted by Japanese machine gun fire is not fun. But the images keep pulling me along.
This is a great film, for two reasons. First, director Lewis, cinematographer Cline and editor Henkel are using the film to work out knowledge of film history that more mainstream studios would not have allowed then - Sergei Eisentein's influence is all over the film.
Secondly, Anna May Wong - a great actress relegated to small parts as the 'sultry Asian' - she is truly magnificent here, this performance would have won an Oscar for any other actress at a later time.
Yes it's still a B-movie plot and much of the dialog has to conform to that. But so much of this is rich in construction and detail that I insist it remains a classic - unrecognized but undeniable.
This film can be enjoyed as a good B-movie, If one doesn't know much of film history, there it ends - a solid B- movie from the early '40s.
But pay attention! I've watched this film several times - it's actually difficult to watch, the scene where the young boy gets wasted by Japanese machine gun fire is not fun. But the images keep pulling me along.
This is a great film, for two reasons. First, director Lewis, cinematographer Cline and editor Henkel are using the film to work out knowledge of film history that more mainstream studios would not have allowed then - Sergei Eisentein's influence is all over the film.
Secondly, Anna May Wong - a great actress relegated to small parts as the 'sultry Asian' - she is truly magnificent here, this performance would have won an Oscar for any other actress at a later time.
Yes it's still a B-movie plot and much of the dialog has to conform to that. But so much of this is rich in construction and detail that I insist it remains a classic - unrecognized but undeniable.
Very Poor Copy Of The Film
boblipton19 June 2023
Anna May Wong is a school teacher, and dedicated to the cause of China. She is at Lashio boarding a truck convoy back to Burma with a an assortment of strangers, taking the Burma Road back to China. A bridge is out on the route, and while men work at restoring it, the group takes refuge in a monastery. It soon becomes apparent that the Japanese are uncannily precise about destroying such convoys. One of their number, or perhaps one of thee monks, is giving information to the enemy.
The copy I looked at was in very poor shape, and the fact that PRC was the company producing this was no recommendation, but the director was Joseph Lewis. Between Miss Wong and him, I decided to take a look. With Robert E. Cline as the cinematographer, I could see that the compositions were excellent, and the camera moved to maintain compositions. There was a good deal of suspense throughout the movie. Perhaps a good copy would raise my opinion, but what is there suggests a decent little wartime thriller.
The copy I looked at was in very poor shape, and the fact that PRC was the company producing this was no recommendation, but the director was Joseph Lewis. Between Miss Wong and him, I decided to take a look. With Robert E. Cline as the cinematographer, I could see that the compositions were excellent, and the camera moved to maintain compositions. There was a good deal of suspense throughout the movie. Perhaps a good copy would raise my opinion, but what is there suggests a decent little wartime thriller.
Bomb over boring cinema.
mark.waltz3 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This starts quite promising lee, with school teacher Anna May Wong all of a sudden interrupted in her class when the Japanese begin to bomb the area where she is. It gains emotional support when a child is gunned down, pretending to shoot at the planes but unaware that he is about to become a target. That disturbing opening is followed by nearly 40 minutes of practically nothing else going on as Wong become surrounded by American and English visitors who suspect each other as possibly being a spy, and not for the right side. There are some long moment of silence for pretty much nothing happens, and it becomes almost impossibly tedious. Of course this all explodes for an action packed finale where locals rush to Wong's aid as the identity of who the villain truly leads to a grizzly conclusion. After the previous year's The Lady from Chungking, I had hopes that this PRC drama would be as exciting as its predecessor. Unfortunately that was not to be the case. Wong is still lovely and there are some interesting moments of photography. But this is like many other World War II propaganda films made during the time in which it takes place. All flag waving on the outside, but inside truly nothing but a shell of a plot and very little to keep the momentum of the film going.
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