The Mountain Road (1960)

A US Army Major stationed in East China in 1944 is ordered to blow up military installations in order to slow down the advancing Japanese Army.

Director:

Daniel Mann

Writers:

Alfred Hayes, Theodore H. White (novel)

Stars:

James Stewart, Lisa Lu, Glenn Corbett

Cast

Cast overview:
James Stewart	...	Maj. Baldwin
Lisa Lu	...	Madame Sue-Mei Hung
Glenn Corbett	...	Collins
Harry Morgan	...	Sgt. 'Mike' Michaelson (as Henry 'Harry' Morgan)
Frank Silvera	...	Col. Kwan
James Best	...	Niergaard
Rudy Bond	...	Sgt. Miller
Mike Kellin	...	Prince
Frank Maxwell	...	Sgt. Ballo
Eddie Firestone	...	Major Lewis
Alan Baxter	...	Gen. Loomis
Leo Chen	...	Col. Li
Bill Quinn	...	Col. Magnusson
Peter Chong	...	Chinese Colonel
P.C. Lee	...	Chinese General

Storyline

In 1944, in eastern part of China, U.S. Army Major Baldwin and his volunteer team of demolition engineers are left behind the retreating Chinese forces. Their task is to slow down the Japanese advance into eastern China by blowing up bridges, roads, airfields and munitions dumps. They start by blowing up an American airfield and ammo dump. They receive the order to destroy a vital bridge over a mountain pass. The team uses a few army trucks to move around. At the bridge, they encounter a Nationalist Chinese Army unit in charge of guarding the bridge. Thanks to an American soldier who speaks some Chinese, Major Baldwin requests the permission, from the Chinese commander, to blow up the bridge. The Chinese colonel agrees but asks the American Major to do him a favor by also destroying a munitions dump located at some distance away. He also requests that Madame Sue-Mei Hung, the widow of a Chinese colonel, be transported by the American demolition team to the nearest major town. Major ...

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Plot Keywords:

china | japanese army | retreat | ammunition depot | u.s. army | 

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Taglines:

THE REAL EPIC OF THE SCORCHED EARTH...when hate and heroism, danger and disaster blocked escape on...THE MOUNTAIN ROAD

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Chinese

Release Date:

June 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sendero de furia

Filming Locations:

Horse Mesa Dam Road, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

William Goetz Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the only real war movie which James Stewart starred in. He had vowed never to make one, since he complained they were hardly ever realistic. Harry Morgan said he believed that Stewart made an exception for this film because it was definitely anti-war.

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Goofs

Major Baldwin's jeep is obviously a post-World War II model, with the visible differences being the jeep seen in the film had larger headlights, a gas tank filler neck and cap in a cutout in the left rear quarter panel (instead of under the driver's seat), and the axe and shovel were affixed under the right front door cutout (instead of under the left front cutout), all different from World War II jeeps.

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Quotes

Sgt. Michaelson: Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!

User Reviews

Good yarn with a good score

I first saw this as a 16 year-old on its release in the UK, and have seen only glimpses on TV since. What I remember most is, having the year before seen "The Big Country", recognising the similarity of the scores as having the same composer in Jerome Moross (I had taken my seat after the opening credits). I felt quite pleased with myself at the time. I thought the movie to be much along the lines of earlier James Stewart/Anthony Mann classics, although with not quite the punch or pace. Harry Morgan's performance explains why he was never short of roles and why he became a stalwart member of the "MASH" brigade. Definitely worth another viewing.