Rent Objective Burma! (1945)

Burma Campaign. - Objective Burma! review by Steve

This is the only major Hollywood film about the war in Burma made during WWII. It follows a platoon of paratroopers dropped into the jungle to blow up a Japanese radar station, which they achieve with little difficulty. But, when they fail to be met by air support, they must walk to their base through hundreds of miles of hazardous and unfamiliar terrain. The jungle becomes their enemy as much as the Japanese.

The film begins with documentary style realism and focuses on the logistics of running the audacious operation. The ensemble cast of diverse Americans is unfamiliar for a major studio film. The leader of the group is played by Errol Flynn, who gives a commanding, moving performance. The latter part of the story deals with their formidable escape. As their ordeal becomes increasingly forlorn and arduous, their endurance becomes epic.

It's a stirring film, brilliantly photographed (James Wong Howe) and scored (Franz Waxman). Walsh directs with his typical laconic toughness. There is an impression that the American attitude to the Japanese has hardened even more since Pearl Harbour. When the US soldiers encounter the butchery of the Japanese torture of POWs we are confronted by the real horror of war. And so we become even more inspired by the men's cause.  

Operation Burma! became infamous for its impact in the UK, where it was accused of overlooking the British efforts in Burma, and was withdrawn. I don't think this is fair. Hollywood was telling one story of its own soldiers. Other stories would be told. It is a film about the heroism of a group of ordinary men who were dropped into a jungle wilderness and abandoned by their own side, but somehow survived. It's a relentless, inspirational war film