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A Yank on the Burma Road

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A Yank on the Burma Road
Directed byGeorge B. Seitz
Written byHugo Butler
David Lang
Gordon Kahn
Produced bySamuel Marx
StarringLaraine Day
Barry Nelson
Keye Luke
CinematographyLester White
Edited byGene Ruggiero
Music byLennie Hayton
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • January 29, 1942 (1942-01-29)
Running time
67 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$300,000[1]
Box office$552,000[1]

A Yank on the Burma Road is a 1942 drama film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Laraine Day, Barry Nelson and Keye Luke. It is also known as China Caravan and Yanks on the Burma Road.

It was produced as part of a cluster of Hollywood films set during the Burma campaign of World War II.[2] Although released shortly after America's entry into the conflict, it was largely produced before the Attack on Pearl Harbor.[3] The film's sets were designed by the art director Edwin B. Willis.

Plot

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A New York City taxi driver Joe Tracey attracts public attention by capturing the Spinaldi brothers, two notorious killers, and handing them over to the police. He is then hired by Chinese representatives who want him to take a valuable convoy of medical supplies on the Burma Road from Rangoon to the Republic of China's capital at Chungking. There he meets fellow American Gail Farwood who has been denied permission to travel to Chungking because the British authorities suspect her on account of her German-born pilot husband of being pro-Japanese agent. Tracey agrees to take Gail with him, but is surprised at her attempts to evade the Chinese authorities. Having originally taken the job purely for the money, Tracey is moved by the suffering and resolve he encounters on the way. They come across Gail's husband Tom, in the custody of the Chinese, and agree to take him to Chungking for trial. On the way a fierce battle breaks out between the Japanese attackers and Chinese forces, during which Tom is killed trying to aid the former. The attack is repulsed and the convoy proceeds on its way, news having arrived that America has now entered the war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Reception

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The film made $355,000 in the United States and Canada and $197,000 elsewhere, making a profit of $64,000.[1]

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ^ Selth p.205
  3. ^ Loukides & Fuller p.69

Bibliography

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  • Selth, Andrew. Burma, Kipling and Western Music: The Riff from Mandalay. Taylor & Francis, 2016.
  • Loukides, Paul & Fuller, Linda K. Beyond the Stars: Stock Characters in American Popular Film. Popular Press, 1990.
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