OBJECTIVE, BURMA! (1945) B/W 142m dir: Raoul Walsh

w/Errol Flynn, James Brown, William Prince, George Tobias, Henry Hull, Warner Anderson, John Alvin, Mark Stevens, Richard Erdman, Anthony Caruso

From The Movie Guide: "This is one of the finest WWII films made during the war, and Errol Flynn, discarding his usual impudent and pranksterish style, is terrific as the straightforward and very human leader of 50 American paratroops who drop behind enemy lines to destroy a Japanese radar station. The commandos complete their mission successfully, but while waiting to rendezvous with the rescue planes they are attacked by a force of Japanese and have to fight their way out of the Burmese jungle on foot. Flynn gives one of his most convincing and powerful performances, and Raoul Walsh's direction is nothing less than excellent, with the great action director maintaining a harrowing pace, providing a wealth of interesting military detail, and delivering one thrilling scene after another. Alvah Bessie, who would later become one of the 'Hollywood Ten' writers indicted by HUAC, provided the engrossing story, marked by its relative lack of patriotic speechifying and some marvelously entertaining banter between the experienced commandos. Exceptional, too, is the dynamic, masterful score by Franz Waxman, which fits the mood and menace of the mysterious jungle and incorporates the sounds of wild animals and exotic birds. James Wong Howe's splendid photography, with its naturalistic lighting, lends a great deal of authenticity to the jungle scenes, especially when one considers that the film was shot almost entirely on the 'Lucky' Baldwin Santa Anita ranch outside Pasadena. The film received rave reviews and heavy box-office support in the US, but when OBJECTIVE, BURMA! was released in England, the British press exploded, claiming that the film minimized the efforts of the British in Burma by giving the impression that an American commando team liberated the area by themselves. The film was banned in Britain until 1952, when prints were reissued with a prologue extolling the British contribution to the campaign."

OBJECTIVE BURMA! was nominated for three Oscars: Best Original Screenplay (Bessie), Editing (George Amy), and Score (Waxman).