China Gate (1957)

In 1954, during the French Indochina War, an Eurasian female smuggler and a group of French Foreign Legion mercenaries, infiltrate the enemy territory in order to destroy an arms depot.

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writer:

Samuel Fuller

Stars:

Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson, Nat 'King' Cole

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Barry	...	Sgt. Brock
Angie Dickinson	...	Lucky Legs
Nat 'King' Cole	...	Goldie
Paul Dubov	...	Capt. Caumont
Lee Van Cleef	...	Maj. Cham
George Givot	...	Cpl. Pigalle
Gerald Milton	...	Pvt. Andreades
Neyle Morrow	...	Leung
Marcel Dalio	...	Father Paul
Maurice Marsac	...	Col. De Sars
Warren Hsieh	...	The Boy
Paul Busch	...	Cpl. Kruger
James Hong	...	Charlie
Willie Soo Hoo	...	Moi Leader (as William Soo Hoo)
Walter Soo Hoo	...	Guard

Storyline

Near the end of the French phase of the Vietnam War, a group of mercenaries are recruited to travel through enemy territory to the Chinese border, to blow up an arms depot. A Eurasian smuggler, Lucky Legs, agrees to use her connections to help them, in return getting her son into America. The racist father of the boy, Sergeant Brock, is also part of the multinational group. Lucky Legs must use the love of a Eurasian guerilla leader, Major Cham, to get access to the base. Will they destroy the base, and will Brock overcome his racism before Lucky Legs makes The Ultimate Sacrifice?

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Plot Keywords:

racism | french indochina war | mercenary | smuggler | indochina | 

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Taglines:

An American dynamiter love-locked in war-locked China!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1957 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Gates of China

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Globe Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French colonial rule in Indochina (Vietnam) took place from the 19th century until the Second World War, when Vietnam was invaded by Japan. The resistance movement against the Japanese was led by the Communist Viet Minh which, at the war's end, declared Vietnam's independence. The French refused to accept that and fought to re-establish colonial rule. The French Indochina War, conducted with some American aid, lasted until 1954, when France admitted defeat. In 1955 the Republic of Vietnam, administered from Saigon, was proclaimed in the south, while the north, ruled from Hanoi, remained in Communist hands. By April 1956 French forces completely withdrew from Vietnam.

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Goofs

Film stock flipped when Lucky Legs and Sgt. Brock go into the tree house. The sniper has a left handed rifle, Sgt. Brock's knife is on the wrong side, and his watch has moved to his right wrist.

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Crazy Credits

Music by Victor Young Extended by his old friend Max Steiner

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Connections

Featured in The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera (1996)

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Soundtracks

China Gate
Music by Victor Young
Lyrics Harold Adamson
Sung by Nat 'King' Cole

User Reviews

Sam Fuller's film about communist lands misses the mark

Sam Fuller's worst war film is worth watching-or at least scanning-for several reasons. The most obvious is the bizarre casting. Then there is the unpersuasive attempt to recreate Vietnam on a studio backlot,which would be duplicated with not much more success years later by Stanley Kubrick in Full Metal Jacket(1987). Finally,both the screw loose plotting and the rabid Red-baiting have become unintentionally comic with the passage of time. This was in fact Sam Fuller's first-ever film for a major Hollywood studio(Twentieth Century-Fox)and his first to be presented in full widescreen Cinemascope.

A voice-over introduction sets a hyperbolic tone: "With the end of the Korean War,France was left alone to hold the hottest front in the world and became the barrier between Communism and the rape of Asia." Moments later,we learn that because the dirty Reds have put the Vietnamese town of Sun Toy under siege,a little boy's(Warren Hsieh)pet puppy is about to be eaten! Presumably because 1957,American audiences did not know much about the country or the war,Fuller spends most of the first act spinning out a fanciful interpretation of the situation,blaming many of the country's problems on the Chinese Communists and their massive underground ammunition bunker at China Gate. The French Legionaires decide it to blow it up,and call in explosives expert Sgt. Brock(Gene Barry). The only person who can lead them from Sun Toy to China Gate is Lucky Legs(Angie Dickinson in one of her first major roles),who is allegedly half-Chinese. She's also Brock's ex,and if that weren't enough,the kid with the puppy is their son! That's doubly hard to believe because the stars generate all the sexual chemistry of two wet paper towels. Not to mention in 1957,white actors or actresses were playing roles of minorities,whether Latino or Asian or Arabian were stereotypical then.

After that's been established,the already pokey action stops cold for Goldie(Nat "King" Cole) to not only demonstrate his acting abilities but also sings the theme song. Then off they go,with a half dozen or so more Legionaires and a couple of boxes of highly explosive detonators. At every opportunity.one or more of these guys bears his tortured soul,and as they get closer to the Chicorns,it becomes apparent that our girl Lucky has been a sort of one-woman welcoming committee whose mission is to boost morale in every way that she can. All the guys know her because she makes regular visits to the Chinese to deliver cognac and sex,even though her main squeeze is the commander of China Gate,Maj. Cham(Lee Van Cleef),yet another half-Chinese who is in line for a promotion to Moscow.

With only a few exceptions,the combat scenes are as phony as the rest. They were filmed on cheap-looking sets with little originality or energy. Nothing on screen comes as close to Fuller's better work in "The Steel Helmet",and "The Big Red One". Still,"China Gate" is instructive. It's a perfect example of Hollywood's attempt to turn every post-war conflict into another World War II. When the film does try to draw any distinctions,it still reduces the action to good guys versus bad guys. If a few Americans will just go over there and blow up stuff and shoot some guys,those benighted foreigners will see the error of their ways and everything will straighten itself out. That's a bit of oversimplification,but given the loopy politics of China Gate,it's not too far off the mark. It misses it.