Search - Bombs Over Burma on DVD

Great For Pedagogy

Miguel B. Llora | Bay Point, California USA | 06/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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"

This is a rental ...

Cary Chan | Brooklyn, NY USA | 09/02/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"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"