Errol
Flynn leads a group of American paratroopers into WWII Burma on a pre-invasion
expedition in “Objective, Burma!†released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive
Collection. The mission for the paratroopers is to parachute into Burma behind
enemy lines, destroy a Japanese radar station and meet up at an old British air
strip to be picked up and returned to their base in India. Everything goes as
planned and they succeed in destroying the radar installation with no
casualties. Mission accomplished. There wouldn’t be much of a movie if things
ended with a successful mission and rescue. Naturally, the Japanese are at the
airfield ready to destroy the soon-to-arrive C-47 transport aircraft. Flynn
orders the aircraft to leave them rather than risk their destruction and he
takes his men to a more defendable position in the jungle.
Flynn
is the leader of the expedition, Captain Nelson, who takes his men from one
jungle location to another including a Burmese village and a mountain plateau where
they hope to make contact with allied forces and be rescued. Attempts to air
drop supplies for the expedition are futile as the Japanese are always one step
behind them or waiting to ambush them. The casualties mount as the American
soldiers succumb to wounds, illness, hunger and thirst.
Directed
by Raoul Walsh with his usual gritty style, he is primarily known for his
classic crime dramas such as “High Sierra†and “White Heat†as well as
adventure yarns like “They Died with Their Boots On,†“Desperate Journey†and
“Don Juan†(these last three featuring Flynn). “Objective, Burma†offers a
terrific mid-career performance by Flynn,who is backed by a good supporting cast.
The screenplay is by Ranald MacDougall and Lester Cole from a story by Alvah
Bessie which may have been based on the real life Operation Loincloth, a 1943
British operation in Burma. According to IMDb, producer Jerry Wald said the
screenplay for “Objective, Burma!†was partially lifted from “Northwest
Passage,†a 1940 MGM release. Henry Hull is very good as American war
correspondent Mark Williams who joins the operation as the “old man†who
promises to tell their story. The cast is rounded out by several second tier
stars and character actors, most notably George Tobias who offers comic relief
as Corporal Gabby Gordon.
The
main criticisms of this movie are the obvious use of Hollywood sound stages and California
locations standing in for the jungles of Burma. The climax of the movie is
clearly located in California and not in the jungle. The war was still raging
when the movie was being made so the lack of jungle locations can be forgiven.
The other criticism, and this was a big deal at the time of the film’s release
in February 1945, is the Americans didn’t really have a huge role in the
liberation of Burma. It was largely a British and Australian operation with the
exception of General Merrill and his Marauders who were also advisers to this
film. Their story would be told in “Merrill’s Marauders,†and released in 1962.
The British were so incensed that they banned “Objective, Burma!†from release in
the UK for seven years. Hollywood didn’t learn its lesson and made a similar switch
in the 2000 release “U-571†about the operation to capture a Nazi Enigma cipher
machine. The only problem with the all American Naval operation as depicted in
the movie is that in real life this was an all British Royal Navy operation.
Flynn,
like John Wayne, was criticized for not serving during WWII, but playing
military heroes in movies. The Australian-born Flynn tried to enlist, but was
rejected due to health issues which Warner Bros. kept secret as to not affect
Flynn’s box office returns. Flynn, notorious for his drinking and “bad boyâ€
persona, was on his best behavior during most of the war period in order to
focus on home front morale and make amends for not serving in the military. Flynn
acquits himself well here and I enjoyed this military drama. The movie clocks
in at a whopping 142 minutes, but it feels shorter as the action keep things
moving at a brisk pace. The Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific and includes the
trailer as well as a couple of WWII era curiosities that some, including this
writer, found fascinating. The first is “The Tanks are Coming,†a 1941 short
featuring George Tobias, Richard Travis and Gig Young. The second is “The Rear
Gunner†from 1943 featuring Burgess Meredith and Ronald Reagan. The movie is
recommended for fans of Errol Flynn and military war dramas.