When I read histories of the Pacific War, I frequently come across passages telling of a rage held by allied soldiers against the Japanese, more intense than that held against the Germans (though had they known at the time about Malmedy and the Holocaust, it might have been a different story). There is a scene in "Objective Burma" which conveys to me, more effectively than any other film, how that rage was born.
This is a Warner Brothers "A" picture, directed by the great Raoul Walsh, and it shows. The acting is superb, and the locations are totally convincing. The framework for these is a conventional story of an allied patrol's sabotage of an enemy radar station, deep in the jungle, and its harrowing trek back to safety. What sets "Operation Burma" apart is its concentration on the humanity of the characters within an "action film" context, without resort to melodrama. It is a delicate balance that many films fail to maintain, and it is perhaps why Errol Flynn is ideal as Captain Nelson, leader of the patrol. Flynn's screen image as a swashbuckler was always tempered by a disarming mildness, which not only made the ladies swoon but enabled him convincingly to reveal the human frailty behind the bravura. And nowhere else does he display this double facet to better effect than in "Operation Burma". It is said that the best commanders are those who only have to ask in order to be obeyed. Flynn is this kind of commander.
Other fine players should not be neglected. There is a standout performance by Henry Hull, as an elderly journalist whose ambition to cover the war from the ground leads him to the realization that in war it isn't just combat that kills. I also like Warner Anderson, both grim and sympathetic as Flynn's commanding officer. And the uncredited Erville Anderson's "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell is so convincing, I fancied the general was playing himself!
I like to have films representing each of a broad range of interests. For Errol Flynn, I have "The Adventures of Robin Hood," "Operation Burma" and "That Forsyte Woman". As well as any others, these three films define Errol Flynn's career. For World War II, I have "Operation Burma," "They Were Expendable" and "Saving Private Ryan". As well as any others, these three films define World War II. They are musts for any comprehensive film library.
