Bombs Over Burma (1942)

Platform:  DVD MOVIE Publisher:  ALPHA VIDEO Packaging:  DVD STYLE BOX Anna May Wong began her career in silent films and quickly came to the attention of Douglas Fairbanks who cast her in a prominent role in The Thief of Baghdad. To escape type-casting after a series of concubine and slave girl roles she went to Europe where parts in film and on stage were better for the Chinese-American actress. Wong returned to the U.S. and continued to create strong portraits for directors Erich Von Stroheim Nicholas Ray and Ross Hunter. Before passing away in Santa Monica California in 1961 she appeared in numerous television shows and dramas and was the first Chinese-American to star in her own series "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong" (1951). China. World War II. The bloody Burma Road must be kept open for Allied troop convoys at any cost by a brave but shorthanded crew. After a surprise attack the group suspects a traitor is amongst them. The beautiful Lin Yang - who teaches school by day and spies for the Allies by night - is assigned to find out who is responsible for leaking costly information to the Japanese. Driven by the horrifying memory of innocent villagers who were slaughtered by the enemy Lin Yang travels the treacherous road with an unlikely group of strangers. Englishman Sir Roger Howe and American Slim Jenkins aide her in a desperate race against time to stop the devastating bombs over Burma. With unflinching scenes of aerial assaults and battlefield brutality writer-director Joseph H. Lewis creates a taut suspenseful wartime adventure.Starring: Anna May Wong Leslie Denison & Nedrick YoungDirected by: Joseph H. Lewis DVD Details: Run Time: 65 minutesNumber of Discs: 1Originally Released in 1942Black & WhiteNo region encoding; For global distribution. Product Description

Great For Pedagogy

Bombs over Burma and Lady from Chungking both starred Anna May Wong; predictably both were made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Both came at a time when the Japanese (guilty by association - the Japanese Americans) became the enemy (the "Other") and with equal vigor all the rest of the Asians - particularly the Chinese Americans saw a change of heart - we are now all allies. This adds credence to the old adage that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Bombs over Burma is a good, tight story. Anna May Wong's leading performance more than makes up for this World War II feature's low-budget (but high on propaganda) look. The story has Wong as a schoolteacher who is aiding the allies to keep the Burma Road supply line open, despite many enemy raids. The core of the movie/story centers on how a bus load of people are stranded in a remote monastery along the supply line. The story begins to pick up when it is discovered that one of the group is a traitor and is informing the Japanese Air Force of incoming supply convoys. With little time to tell the story, well, the suspense is maintained rather well for that short time. We are kept guessing as long as possible as to just how things will turn out - we swing from one caricature to another - but we know that Anna is innocent. Wong also gets support from some of the other cast members. In a smaller role as the kind of lowlife Dan Seymour comes through. Leslie Denison as Sir Roger gives it his best. As the Yankee truck driver Nedrick Young has a few of good moments. Finally, Connie Leon does a great job as a Burmese bureaucrat. Despite all its down sides, the story is interesting in itself, and it also serves the purpose of illuminating a vital but little-remembered propaganda aspect of cinema.

Miguel Llora June 13, 2006

This is a rental ...

This is the worst movie tranfer to DVD that I had ever seen. It looks as if someone was in front of a TV with a video camera. I think the movie may of been widescreen because you can tell some things should be on the screen but isnt. It is nice to see Anna May Wong in a speaking role but its a shame they didnt put effort into the transfer to DVD September 2, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...