Bombs Over Burma

Bombs Over Burma is a 1942 American war film directed by Joseph H. Lewis, based on a story by Milton Raison. To depict the Chinese character faithfully, the star, Anna May Wong, and other characters speak Mandarin in the first few minutes.

Plot

In 1942, Chinese guerrillas fighting for the Allied cause in Burma during World War II are helping to build a road. During the construction of a military supply road like the Burma Road and Ledo Road, the project is sabotaged by an English nobleman who is a German agent.
Using a scientific device, the English nobleman is instrumental in the coordination of a Japanese air attack on supply trucks attempting to cross a key bridge. A Chinese school teacher reveals the schemes of the traitor, and brings about his destruction at the hands of Chinese peasants armed with picks and shovels.

Cast

As appearing in Bombs Over Burma, :

Anna May Wong as Lin Ying
Noel Madison as Me-Hoi
Leslie Denison as Sir Roger Howe
Nedrick Young as Slim Jenkins
Dan Seymour as Pete Brogranza
Frank Lackteen as Hallam
Teala Loring as Lucy Dell
Dennis Moore as Tom Whitley
Connie Leon as Ma Sing
Hayward Soo Hoo as Ling
Richard Loo as Col. Kim
Paul Fung as Toy Vendor
Richard Wong as Servant
Production

Lack of an adequate budget and a two-week shooting schedule hampered the production, limiting Bombs Over Burma to "B-fare".

Reception

Production values doomed Bombs Over Burma both at the box office and with critics. The review in The [New York Times] succinctly called it a "dud", loaded with stock shots, even recognizable "California architecture." Later reviews such as that of Leonard Maltin, noted that the film was an "... interesting if failed attempt to make a hard-hitting, topical film... Director/cowriter Lewis' visual flair can't save a talky, pedestrian script. Wong comes off well, as usual."

Availability

released the film on region-1 DVD on June 28, 2005.