Escape to Burma (1955)

hyped garbage

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This adventure movie produced by RKO , Radio Picture Inc , deals with a man on the run for a killing he did not commit and he finds refuge and romance in an isolated jungle mansion . As a local prince in British Burma has been murdered , apparently by his prospecting colleague called Jim Brecan (Robert Ryan) . The bereaved daddy wants Brecan's head , no questions asked , but Captain Cardigan (David Farrar) of the colonial Rangoon District Force hopes to encounter him first for a fair trial . As the fugitive in British Burma hides on a teak plantation and find solace in the arms of a rich owner called Gwen Moore (Barbara Stanwick) . Brecan finds certain protection , thanks to a mutual attraction with Gwen and help each other , soon makes him indispensable . In the plantation Jim works as a right-hand man . Later on , they flee and find shelter in a Burmese jungle temple . The jungle , of course, is endangered by some kind of wild life , for this reason they find themselves in a strange atmosphere . There takes places a searing story of sudden love and sudden death in the hot green hell of the Burma jungle.Burma's balmy jungles provide the backstage for a torrid love between Barbara Stanwick and Robert Ryan , in this post-prime Allan Dwan effort . ¨Escape to Burma¨ is a B-adventure movie , a menace melodrama with a wide view of a huge tropical bungalow , exotic scenarios with rage excessively colorful , big bull elephants , an amazing mansion , a love story , chases and many other things . A monsoon , a violent as well as spectacular fighting between Robert Ryan and some bandits , elephants doing pirouette , a likable chimpanzee (though only live in Africa) and an orangutan are among the movie's extra added attractions . Action fans will enjoy the continuous pursuits and confrontations between Robert Ryan and David Farrar . Furthermore, an exciting final climax at the mansion in which the protagonists are besieged by an army . This picture bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Elephant walk¨ (1954) by William Dieterle that contains a similar jungle scenario (Sri Lanka) , elephants and known actors as Elizabeth Taylor , Peter Finch and Dana Andrews . ¨Escape to Burma¨ packs a colorful cinematography print in Technicolor by John Alton who along with Nicholas Musuraca are considered to be two of the best cameraman specialized in Noir cinema . Thrilling as well as evocative musical score by Louis Forbes . This quickie was professionally directed by Allan Dwan , a craftsman working from the silent cinema . He was Gloria Swanson's favorite director and after he began to work for Triangle in 1916 , he also won the respect of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford , who were , at that time, the most powerful couple in the film business . Dwan directed over 1400 films , including one-reels, between his arrival in the industry (circa 1909) and his final film in 1961 . Among them some good Western as ¨ Restless breed¨, ¨The rivers edge¨, ¨Cattle Queen of Montana¨ and ¨Montana Belle¨ , being ¨Silver Lode¨ is his unqualified masterpiece . ¨Escape to Burma¨ results to be an acceptable and passable picture . Watchable results for this classic adventure movie .

Allan Dwan seems more interested in filming the elephants than he is in directing his actors.Most of the time,excellent actors such as Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan are left to their own devices:it's obvious in their first meeting and in the intimate scenes.As for the story,if you have not guessed that Ryan is not guilty long before the extravagant "explanation" ,you are very naive.At times,it looks like an Asiatic western,the elephants replacing the horses.It's an interminable chase ,with a stubborn English cop,nasty natives, a meal in the jungle where the heroes eat elephant stuffed with tiger or the reverse and precious stones .

Escape to Burma is just one of a series of adventure features starring the estimable Barbara Stanwyck. However, where this film stands out above many of her other pictures from this period is that the supporting cast can actually act.In fact, the male actors Robert Ryan and David Farrar, are so good in their roles as outlaw and law enforcer that they almost overshadow the matriarch Stanwyck herself. Almost.Escape to Burma is standard Hollywood fare, but entertaining nevertheless; ideal for a rainy day. There are much worse ways to spend 85 minutes.

Homer Dickens in his book, "The Films of Barbara Stanwyck," suggests this is one of the low points in Stanwyck's film career but it's entertaining in a Saturday-matinée sort of way and has --considering its low budget -- colorful and exotic backgrounds. (True, these backgrounds have the look of studio sets but that only adds to an air of calculated escapism. The tiger hunt scenes, by the way, were filmed in Thousand Oaks, California, at the World Animal Jungle Compound.) The movie reaches a climax in the last reel when Robert Ryan, stripped to the waist and looking pretty good for a man in his 40s, is flogged across the back by a pair of enthusiastic whippers. Apparently he's been sentenced to death-by-flogging by the local potentate but this apprehension may not be quite correct. Some evidence suggests that the script's original plan was to have the potentate's men flog Ryan and then execute him by beheading but any mention of the "beheading" part of the potentate's sentence got left on the cutting-room floor. In any case, it's a memorable flogging scene and it ranks 20th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies."