Plot

With America still neutral, an American news photographer on assignment in Burma is courted by both the Japanese and The Flying Tiger volunteers fighting for China to film the strategic Burma Road.

In November 1941, American news photographer Johnny 'Bugsy' Williams manages to escape from the Japanese and finds himself back in Burma where he meets the beautiful Miss Haoli Young. Johnny is also a flyer and his friend Shorty McGuire is after him to join the Flying Tigers. He could make a small fortune filming the Burma Road but puts off the opportunity to be with Haoli, but she leaves unexpectedly for Kunming where her father runs a school. He has a price on his head and spies working for the Japanese are ready to nab him. When he hears that the Japanese are going to wipe out Kunming, he sets off to rescue Haoli.—garykmcd

In November 1941, cynical American Johnny Williams, a newsreel cameraman, is detained by Japanese military officials in Luichow, a Japanese-occupied part of China. The interviewing officer tells Johnny that the Japanese will pay him twenty thousand dollars to photograph the building of the Burma Road, then gives him the night to reconsider after he declines. As they are talking, Johnny steals what he thinks are his press credentials, after which he is returned to his cell. There he finds Major Bull Weed, a captured Canadian who was fighting with the Chinese irregulars. Weed is visited by his girl friend, "Captain" Fifi, who slips him a pistol. Johnny helps Weed escape to a pre-arranged meeting place, where they find Fifi waiting. She takes them to an abandoned airplane she has located, and Johnny then flies them to safety in Mandalay. There Johnny meets his old pal, Captain Shorty Maguire, who now serves in the American Volunteer Group, popularly known as "The Flying Tigers." Maguire asks Johnny to join the Tigers, but Johnny callously replies that he won't die for China, only for himself. Johnny then discovers that he grabbed some Japanese military orders rather than his press credentials. Weed translates the words "pearl" and "seven," but Johnny loses interest when he spots a beautiful woman in the lobby. Johnny pursues the woman, named Haoli Young, who is picking up some vases that she intends to sell. Johnny escorts Haoli home, where he is shocked to learn that in addition to being cosmopolitan and Vassar-educated, Haoli is Chinese. After Johnny forces a kiss on her, the couple part bitterly, despite their attraction to each other. Johnny returns to his hotel, where he flirts with Fifi in order to forget Haoli. He takes her to his room and is surprised to find Haoli, who has come to tell him that her father, Dr. Kai Young, warned her that Fifi and Weed are Japanese agents, and that Johnny is now suspected as well because of his association with them. Johnny tells her to leave, but soon realizes that he is being used as a pawn by Weed and Fifi. After tricking them into providing him with money to buy new camera equipment, Johnny tells Weed and Fifi to leave Mandalay before he tells the Tigers that they are spies. As a week passes, Johnny waits for Shorty to take him over the Burma Road to film a newsreel for an American company. He also becomes more involved with Haoli, and the pair fall deeply in love. Meanwhile, Weed reports back to the Japanese major, who orders him to retrieve the document that Johnny stole. One afternoon, Johnny goes to Haoli's house and learns that she has abruptly left with her father for Kunming, the site of his school for orphans. Bereft, Johnny gets drunk before returning to his hotel, where Fifi meets him the next morning. She warns him that Weed intends to kill him but offers to escape with him, as she has fallen in love with him. When she mentions that the Japanese are about to bomb Kunming, however, Johnny decides that he must find Haoli. First he fights Weed, and after he bests the big man, he rushes to the airfield and goes up with Shorty. Upon his arrival at Kunming, Johnny finds Haoli, but her father has already been killed in the bombing. Johnny helps her to rescue the trapped children, but before they can reach safety, Haoli is also killed. The enraged Johnny dashes to the top of a nearby building, on which is located a machine gun. Johnny then shoots down a Japanese plane and dedicates his actions to his "China girl" as he continues to fire at the planes.