Objective, Burma! is a 1945 war film directed by Raoul Walsh. The film stars Errol Flynn and Henry Hull and it is based around the Burma campaign of World War II.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Production Company: Warner Bros.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Cast: Errol Flynn, James Brown, William Prince, George Tobias, Henry Hull
US Box Office: $5,292,500 ($144,700,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Black & White
Genre: War, Drama
Release Date: January 26, 1945 (premiere); February 17, 1945 (general release)
Plot Summary: During World War II, a squad of US Army Paratroopers led by Captain Chuck Nelson (Errol Flynn) is dropped deep into a jungle in Burma to destroy a secret Japanese radar station. Nelson’s squad is accompanied by Mark Williams (Henry Hull), an older war journalist. The group easily destroys the radar station, but they are forced to abandon their planned rendezvous with a rescue plane after they find the Japanese waiting at the rescue site. Nelson and his squad are forced to march back to the base on foot, through the dangerous Burmese jungle.
Production: In December of 1943, Warner Bros. producer Jerry Wald decided to make a World War II film set in Burma. Wald was inspired after reading a book about Merrill’s Marauders, an American unit serving in Burma, and thought the Burma campaign would be a good subject for a film. Wald believed that that Burma of the war would soon become active, and hoped that he could have a movie made and released by that time. Wald was inspired to do this by the success of Warner Bros’ Casablanca (1942), which was rushed into release shortly after the successful Allied invasion of North Africa and the capture of Casablanca in order to capitalize on the American public’s interest in the region, and hoped that Casablanca‘s success could be replicated for his film.
Wald initially hired Alvah Bessie to write the screenplay for Objective, Burma!, but Bessie was quickly assigned elsewhere after writing only a few pages. Randall McDougall and Lester Cole were brought in to rewrite and finish the script, with Bessie being given credit for the story. In January of 1944 the film was officially announced, and Errol Flynn was soon cast in the leading role of Captain Nelson. Flynn was one of WB’s biggest film stars at the time. American actor Franchot Tone was considered for a supporting role, but was ultimately not chosen. Warner Bros picked Raoul Walsh to direct the film. Walsh didn’t get along well with the writers, but Wald convinced him to stick with their script.
Studio filming on Objective, Burma! began in April of 1944, by this point the Allied campaign in Burma had already began, so the film would not be able to capitalize on public interest in Burma in the same way as Casablanca. Much of Objective, Burma! was shot on location in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, which was able to provide a close approximation to the jungles in Burma. Location filming in the Arboretum began on May 1, 1944 and was scheduled for 60 days, but ended up going an additional 40 days due to bad weather and script rewrites. Additional location filming was done in Palm Springs and in Forest Lane Memorial Park (which was formerly the Providencia Ranch, a popular filming location during the silent era), both in California.
According to actor William Price (Lt. Jacobs), the only advice that Walsh gave the cast on set was, “All right, boys, no ‘Hamlets’ in the jungle” (meaning he wanted them to give natural performances). Although Errol Flynn had a reputation for being difficult on set due to his alcoholism, Flynn was actually on good behavior while shooting Objective, Burma! according to Walsh. Flynn was in the middle of writing his autobiography at the time, so he didn’t have time to drink as much alcohol as usual.
Fun Facts and Trivia: The Burmese villagers in Objective, Burma! are supposed to be be speaking Burmese, however they are actually speaking Hindi. Hindi was not commonly spoken in historic Burma. The Gurkha guides (from Nepal) in the film also speak Hindi, though in real life they did not tend to speak Hindi. The main building in the Burmese village scenes was later used as the bell tower in the opening credits of the Fantasy Island television series. Today, the building remains intact in the Los Angeles County Arboretum where the jungle scenes of Objective, Burma! were shot. A minor character in Objective, Burma! is named “Negulesco”. This is a reference to Joe Negulesco who was scheduled to direct Adventures of Don Juan (1948), Errol Flynn’s next film for Warner Bros. However, Negulesco would eventually be removed from the project due to disagreements with Flynn, rendering the in-joke reference to him in Objective, Burma! pointless.
Reception: Objective, Burma! received general release in February of 1945. Like many of Flynn’s films in the 1940s Objective, Burma! was a success at the box office. It was Warner Bros sixth highest grossing film of the year.
Objective, Burma! received mostly positive reviews from American critics at the time of its release. Critics generally praised the film’s action and realism, but thought that it was a little too long. The critics at Variety spoke positively about the film’s action sequences and its remarkable realism, but thought that the editing could have been better. Harrison’s Reports had similar praise and criticism for the film but also added that it was one of the best “war melodrama” films ever made. Objective, Burma! has received similar reviews in retrospect, Dennis Schwartz praised Flynn’s performance and the film’s sense of gritty realism.
Objective, Burma! was extremely controversial in the United Kingdom and was pulled from release shortly after its premiere in 1945. British forces are only briefly mentioned in the film, and thus the film seemed to imply that the British only had a minor role in the campaign, when in actuality British and pro-British Indian/Burmese soldiers accounted for a majority of the Allied forces in the conflict. The film largely ignored the British simply because it was loosely based on the story of the real life “Merrill’s Marauders” American unit in Burma, but it was still heavily criticized in the UK for focusing almost exclusively on Americans. The film received a re-release in the UK in 1952 (with a disclaimer and an apology added to the film), and was not aired on British television until the 1980s.
Oscars: Objective, Burma! was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Film Editing (George Amy), Best Original Score for a Drama or Comedy (Franz Waxman), and Best Story (Alvah Bessie). The film didn’t win any of its nominations.
Why You Should See It: Objective, Burma! is a highly underrated World War II drama film. All of the actors are good in their roles, and Errol Flynn in particular is a stand out in his role as Captain Nelson. Raoul Walsh does a good job of adding action and suspense to the film. The decision to shoot many of the jungle scenes in the actual jungle of the LA County Arboretum gives the film a great degree of atmospheric realism, especially when combined with Walsh’s lighting and camera work on the film. Composer Franz Waxman also does incredible work on Objective, Burma!, his use of music (and deliberate lack of music in some scenes) add a great deal of suspense and intensity to the jungle action scenes. For a film made during World War II, Objective, Burma! is remarkably gritty and realistic, but it is still heroic and patriotic (you won’t find any America-bashing here), and it has an upbeat ending. Though it has received generally good reviews, Objective, Burma! is largely forgotten and deserves more positive attention.