Objective, Burma!

John ChardAug 2019

4.5

Come on, I'd follow that man down the barrel of a cannon. Errol Flynn stars as Major Nelson, who along with 50 other commandos parachute into Burma to destroy a Japanese radar station. The mission is a success but while waiting to be air lifted to safety they come under attack from the Japanese and are forced to trek thru the jungle, simultaneously fighting the terrain just as much as the enemy. There were two magnificently directed war films made in 1945, one was John Ford's supreme John Wayne vehicle, They Were Expendable, the other is this much unheralded Raoul Walsh classic. High on military detail and paced with the ultimate precision, Objective, Burma! is as tense as it most assuredly is thrilling. It also finds Errol Flynn turning in what is arguably his finest acting performance. Casting off his rapscallion prankster like persona, he delivers a straight and raw emotive performance that proves beyond doubt he was an actor of note. Short on flag waving sloganeering, courtesy of the source story from Alvah Bessie, pic holds its head high in the technical departments as well. Franz Waxman's brilliant score is tense and unnerving and it mixes seamlessly with the sound department's excellent work involving the noises of the jungle. It's now very much a relief to be able hear this picture through the benefits of home cinema systems. James Wong Howe's photography is suitably bringing the jungle to life, which considering the film was shot mostly at the L.A. Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is quite some achievement. On its release in the U.S. the film was a critical and box office success, my fellow countrymen here in Britain, however, were not so impressed. Angry about the lack of credit given to the British in the Burmese operation, the film was subsequently banned in the UK until 1952. Then, with common sense prevailing, new prints were issued with a prologue giving credit to the other armed forces involved in the campaign. Which all in all ends things on a rather tidy note I feel. It's a magnificent picture that never loses sight of the core story, it's widely available now on various formats so really you have no excuse not to see it. 9/10