The plot to "China Girl" is incredibly confusing...so much so that I lost track of all the plots and subplots after a while. To enjoy the film, it's probably best you turn off your brain while you are watching and just accept it as it comes!
When the story begins, the incredibly disaffected Johnny Williams (George Montgomery) is being held captive by the Japanese in occupied China sometime in 1941. They want to hire him to photograph the Burma Road...since they need this info for their attack on Burma. However, when he finds himself locked up with Major Weed (Victor McLaglen) the pair manage to escape...and it's suspiciously easy*. Soon he's somewhere where the Flying Tigers are stationed** and all sorts of folks start coming and going....and at this point, figuring out who was good, who was bad and what ALL the motivations are just seemed to go out the window! What's next? Well, possibly anything!
The film has some decent acting and suspenseful moments, but it is also a confusing mess and I had a real hard time sticking with this one. I wonder if perhaps this movie was rushed into production too quickly...all I know is that the story seemed unfinished...like it could use some editing and a re-write.
*Despite this being a rather slight film in some ways, the scene of Johnny and the Major climbing through masses of murdered Chinese people is amazingly dark and surprising.
**As IMDB noted, this film is set BEFORE the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941...months before the Flying Tigers were active in the war. This is a huge mistake in the plot.
When the story begins, the incredibly disaffected Johnny Williams (George Montgomery) is being held captive by the Japanese in occupied China sometime in 1941. They want to hire him to photograph the Burma Road...since they need this info for their attack on Burma. However, when he finds himself locked up with Major Weed (Victor McLaglen) the pair manage to escape...and it's suspiciously easy*. Soon he's somewhere where the Flying Tigers are stationed** and all sorts of folks start coming and going....and at this point, figuring out who was good, who was bad and what ALL the motivations are just seemed to go out the window! What's next? Well, possibly anything!
The film has some decent acting and suspenseful moments, but it is also a confusing mess and I had a real hard time sticking with this one. I wonder if perhaps this movie was rushed into production too quickly...all I know is that the story seemed unfinished...like it could use some editing and a re-write.
*Despite this being a rather slight film in some ways, the scene of Johnny and the Major climbing through masses of murdered Chinese people is amazingly dark and surprising.
**As IMDB noted, this film is set BEFORE the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941...months before the Flying Tigers were active in the war. This is a huge mistake in the plot.