A Yank on the Burma Road

1942 film by George B. Seitz

January 29, 1942 (1942-01-29)

Running time

67 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$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

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

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

Cast

Laraine Day as Mrs. Gail Farwood
Barry Nelson as Joe Tracey
Stuart Crawford as Tom Farwood
Keye Luke as Kim How
Victor Sen Yung as Wing
Philip Ahn as Dr. Franklin Ling
Knox Manning as Radio Announcer
Matthew Boulton as Rangoon Aide de camp
James B. Leong as Guerilla Leader
Marcelle Corday as Madame Vercheron
George Magrill as A Spinaldi Brother
Cy Schindell as A Spinaldi Brother
Eddy Chandler as Police Desk Sergeant Mulvaney
Cliff Clark as Police Lieutenant
James Flavin as Police Radio Dispatcher
Luke Chan as Officer
Richard Loo as Commandant
Allen Jung as Taxi Driver
Chester Gan as Doctor
Harry Semels as Partner
Bob Okazaki as Japanese Officer
Eddie Lee as Chinese Lieutenant

References

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

Bibliography

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.