Objective Burma Raoul Walsh (U.S., 1945)

Raoul Walsh’s down-and-dirty account of a paratroop mission to knock out a Japanese radar station deep in the Burmese jungle has been criticized for leaving out any reference to the British, who took a significant part in the Allied offensive that freed Burma, and for portraying the Japanese as sadistic automatons, but it remains one of the fastest-paced, most exciting combat movies of the war. The story revolves around Errol Flynn and his fifty-man paratroop unit, who drop deep behind enemy lines and blow up their objective, only to discover that they’ll have to fight their way through 150 miles of enemy-infested jungle to safety. Stunning photography by James Wong Howe—a parachute-jumping sequence and a night attack are standouts—doesn’t hurt at all.


—Michael Goodwin

• Written by Ranald MacDougall, Lester Cole, based on a story by Alvah Bessie. Photographed by James Wong Howe. With Errol Flynn, William Prince, James Brown, George Tobias. (142 mins, B&W, 35mm, From Warner Bros.)