Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

China

  • 19431943
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 19m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
500
YOUR RATING
Alan Ladd, William Bendix, and Loretta Young in China (1943)
  • Drama
  • War
During the Japanese invasion of China, a cynical, macho profiteer meets a compassionate, beautiful schoolteacher.During the Japanese invasion of China, a cynical, macho profiteer meets a compassionate, beautiful schoolteacher.During the Japanese invasion of China, a cynical, macho profiteer meets a compassionate, beautiful schoolteacher.
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
500
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • John Farrow
  • Writers
    • Frank Butler
    • John Stuart Dudley(play "Fourth Brother")
  • Stars
    • Loretta Young
    • Alan Ladd
    • William Bendix
Top credits
  • Director
    • John Farrow
  • Writers
    • Frank Butler
    • John Stuart Dudley(play "Fourth Brother")
  • Stars
    • Loretta Young
    • Alan Ladd
    • William Bendix
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 10User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos6

    Alan Ladd, Iris Wong, and Loretta Young in China (1943)
    Frances Chan, Marianne Quon, Jessie Tai Sing, Soo Yong, and Loretta Young in China (1943)
    Alan Ladd, William Bendix, Philip Ahn, and Loretta Young in China (1943)
    Alan Ladd in China (1943)
    Alan Ladd and Loretta Young in China (1943)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Loretta Young
    Loretta Young
    • Carolyn Grantas Carolyn Grant
    Alan Ladd
    Alan Ladd
    • David Jonesas David Jones
    William Bendix
    William Bendix
    • Johnny Sparrowas Johnny Sparrow
    Philip Ahn
    Philip Ahn
    • Lin Cho, First Brotheras Lin Cho, First Brother
    Iris Wong
    Iris Wong
    • Kwan Suas Kwan Su
    Victor Sen Yung
    Victor Sen Yung
    • Lin Wei, Third Brotheras Lin Wei, Third Brother
    • (as Sen Yung)
    Marianne Quon
    Marianne Quon
    • Tan Yingas Tan Ying
    Jessie Tai Sing
    • Studentas Student
    Richard Loo
    Richard Loo
    • Lin Yunas Lin Yun
    Irene Tso
    • 'Donald Duck'as 'Donald Duck'
    Ching Wah Lee
    Ching Wah Lee
    • Chang Tehas Chang Teh
    Soo Yong
    Soo Yong
    • Tai Shenas Tai Shen
    Beal Wong
    • Capt. Tao-Yuan-Kaias Capt. Tao-Yuan-Kai
    Bruce Wong
    • Aide To Captain Taoas Aide To Captain Tao
    Tala Birell
    Tala Birell
    • Blonde Russianas Blonde Russian
    Barbara Jean Wong
    • Nan Tias Nan Ti
    Chester Gan
    Chester Gan
    • Japanese Generalas Japanese General
    Doris Chan
    • Studentas Student
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • John Farrow
    • Writers
      • Frank Butler
      • John Stuart Dudley(play "Fourth Brother")
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Calcutta
    6.4
    Calcutta
    Singapore
    6.4
    Singapore
    Among the Living
    6.3
    Among the Living
    Golden Earrings
    6.7
    Golden Earrings
    The Old Fashioned Way
    7.4
    The Old Fashioned Way
    Shakedown
    7.0
    Shakedown
    Shake Hands with the Devil
    7.0
    Shake Hands with the Devil
    Johnny Stool Pigeon
    6.6
    Johnny Stool Pigeon
    Moontide
    6.8
    Moontide
    Plunder of the Sun
    6.4
    Plunder of the Sun
    The Accused
    6.8
    The Accused
    Man in the Saddle
    6.2
    Man in the Saddle

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. It was first telecast in Omaha 5 January 1959 on KETV (Channel 7), in Philadelphia Thursday 5 February 1959 on WCAU (Channel 10), in Milwaukee 2 April 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), in Pittsburgh 5 August 1959 on KDKA (Channel 2), in Grand Rapids 6 August 1959 on WOOD (Channel 8), in San Francisco Sunday 20 September 1959 on KPIX (Channel 5), in Indianapolis 30 September 1959 introduced by actress Frances Farmer on Frances Farmer presents on WFBM (Channel 6), in Toldeo 28 October 1959 on WTOL (Channel 11), in Asheville 23 November 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13), and in Chicago 6 December 1959 on WBBM (Channel 2). It was released on DVD 30 August 2013 as part of the Universal Vault Series.
    • Quotes

      Mr. Jones: I knew a girl like you once. She had an act in a circus. Used to crack a whip and make lions jump through paper hoops.

      Carolyn Grant: And you prefer the lipstick sort, huh?

      Mr. Jones: Yes, mostly because I don't like jumping through paper hoops.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Movie Orgy (1968)

    User reviews10

    Review
    Top review
    Powerful Hollywood film about the war in China
    Hollywood did not make a lot of films about the China component of World War II. When they did, they usually focused on Americans, with the Chinese appearing as supporting characters. (There are hardly any Chinese with speaking parts in John Wayne's FLYING TIGERS, for instance.) Anna May Wong made two war films, THE LADY FROM CHUNGKING and BOMBS OVER BURMA, in which she starred as a Chinese patriot leading resistance efforts, both in 1942 and both extremely low-budget. They're worth seeking out, chiefly for her performances, but I've never seen a decent print of either and don't know if one even exists.

    John Farrow's CHINA (1943) is different from other films I've seen about the war in China. It foregrounds a trio of Americans, one female and two male, but the rest of the cast is nearly all Chinese and many of them have significant speaking parts. Even more importantly, the Chinese are proactive and drive the resistance efforts, with the two American men forced to go along, first reluctantly and then wholeheartedly. There are extended scenes of the Chinese conferring among themselves. This was extremely rare in Hollywood. Four of the five preeminent Asian-American actors in Hollywood at the time are in this film: Philip Ahn, Richard Loo, Victor Sen Yung, and Benson Fong. Only Keye Luke is missing. There are many Chinese actresses in the film as well.

    The action takes place in 1941, just before Pearl Harbor, and the plot involves the flight of refugees from a bombed Chinese town in a transport truck driven by an American oil exporter, Davy Jones (Alan Ladd), who's been supplying gasoline to the Japanese and is eager to get to Shanghai to secure another deal. An American teacher, Carolyn Grant (Loretta Young), has a large group of female students with her and prefers to go to Chengdu where the girls will presumably be safer. Eventually a band of well-armed Chinese guerrillas show up and essentially take over, dictating to Jones and his partner, Johnny Sparrow (William Bendix), what route they're going to take. After witnessing an atrocity committed by the Japanese, Jones decides to fight alongside the guerrillas and participates in two major confrontations with the Japanese.

    The film acknowledges Japanese atrocities committed in China with a reference to Nanking early on and a scene where three Japanese soldiers descend on a farmhouse and kill the occupants, leaving alive only a teenage girl whom they proceed to rape. This is presented as frankly as was possible at the time and it's unmistakable what has happened in the house. If the country wasn't at war, the scene would have been censored, but standards were relaxed during the war to allow for scenes like this that would outrage the audience and pump up their fighting spirit.

    From a purely cinematic standpoint, the film is quite remarkable for other reasons. The opening sequence is one long, intricate tracking shot through a Chinese town as it's being bombed, with the camera following William Bendix as he rushes through the town, looking for Ladd, with debris falling around him, and stopping to pick up a baby crying on its mother's corpse. This sequence is filmed on an elaborate backlot set. The shot continues, thanks to an invisible cut, into a building shot on a studio interior, and then out again, thanks to another invisible cut. Director Farrow often employed extensive tracking shots, putting him in the company of such directors as Max Ophuls and, on occasion, Sam Fuller, Orson Welles, and Otto Preminger. Yet, because his work was seen as formula studio fare rather than that of an "auteur," Farrow has never gotten the critical reputation he deserved.

    The two big action sequences in the film are masterfully shot. One, filmed entirely on the studio backlot at night, involves a raft trip across a river by Ladd, Bendix, Ahn and the resistance fighters to the Japanese camp to steal dynamite, erupting in a firefight when the Japanese discover them. Later, they set up dynamite charges along a mountain pass and have to climb up and place the charges in time to stop the Japanese advance. This was partly shot on location somewhere in California and is quite a suspenseful and spectacular sequence. Some of the Chinese girls on the trip participate in this mission.

    CHINA was Ladd's fourth starring role—after THIS GUN FOR HIRE, THE GLASS KEY and LUCKY JORDAN. There's a touch of the GUN FOR HIRE killer about him, particularly in the early scenes where he's pretty contemptuous of the people he's asked to help. But he softens along the way, particularly in his tender scenes with Loretta Young. He's also a fierce fighter in the two big action scenes. At one point, he overhears the Chinese girls talking about him and they clearly think ill of him. One of the girls notices him and comes over to apologize and then asks him when he's going to kiss Miss Grant. She explains that she's seen numerous American movies and the hero is always kissing someone or shooting someone, sometimes both. It's quite a charming scene and the young actress, Marianne Quon, is quite good. It's a notable sequence for the way it frames the American hero in a third world country as someone who's not respected or admired, but actively distrusted. He has to earn their respect and trust in the course of the film. They're not working for him. He, in essence, is working for them. In Hollywood films like this, that was quite unusual.

    Today, September 3, 2013, marks the centennial of Alan Ladd's birth. I've enjoyed the majority of the films of his that I've seen and would argue that CHINA is one of the best. For some reason this film never played on TV when I was growing up and I didn't get the chance to see it until I purchased a used copy on VHS from Amazon.
    helpful•21
    0
    • BrianDanaCamp
    • Sep 3, 2013

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 21, 1943 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • Japanese
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Fourth Brother
    • Filming locations
      • Apache Trail, Arizona, USA
    • Production company
      • Paramount Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 19 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Alan Ladd, William Bendix, and Loretta Young in China (1943)
    Top Gap
    By what name was China (1943) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in July
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Hollywood Romances: Our Favorite Couples
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.