Review of China

China (1943)
8/10
HARD-HITTING & HIGHLY EMOTIONAL...SET IN CHINA'S MAINLAND & JAPAN'S INVASION...circa 1941
17 August 2021
Paramount Studios Rushed this one to Utilize Their New Star Alan Ladd who was about to be Drafted and Serve.

Ladd does a Good Job Playing First a Cynical, Self-Serving American Selling Oil to Japan and Turning a Blind-Eye to Their Atrocities Heaped Upon Civilians.

He is Forced to Join with the Natives and Help Them through Circumstances and First-Hand Witnessing the Evil.

The Film is Famous for its Brutal and Uncompromising Look.

There is a Gut-Wrenching Rape Scene where a Local Teenager is Raped by Three of Japan's Soldiers.

But Not Before They Kill a Toddler "Adopted" by William Bendix and Loretta Young with Ladd Playing an Uncle Part.

This Sends the American Oil Runner Off the Edge and He Unleashes an All-Out Attack on Trailing Japanese Units.

The Violence is Cutting-Edge War Realism and the Movie is One of the Best of the War Years,

Portraying the Japs, Based on Facts, as Inhuman Godless, Soulless Barbarians.

The Propaganda Posters Write Themselves with the Reality of the China v Japan War and the Invaders Disregard for Civilians, Including Women and Children.

Bendix, Young, and Ladd were the Only Americans in the Film with the Remainder of the Cast Chinese.

Odd, Off-Beat Film that is Virtually Unknown and Didn't even Get a Digital Release Until Recently.

Little Seen, Unacknowledged, and Underrated Effort from Hollywood that Deserves a New Look.

One of John Farrow's Best Non-Noirs.
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