The Mountain Road (1960)
In 1944, in eastern part of China, U.S.Army Major Baldwin and his volunteer team of demolition engineers are left behind the retreating Chinese forces. Their task is to slow down the Japanese advance into eastern China by blowing up bridges, roads, airfields and munitions dumps. They start by blowing up an American airfield and ammo dump. They receive the order to destroy a vital bridge over a mountain pass.The team uses a few army trucks to move around. At the bridge, they encounter a Nationalist Chinese Army unit in charge of guarding the bridge. Thanks to an American soldier who speaks some Chinese, Major Baldwin requests the permission, from the Chinese commander, to blow up the bridge.The Chinese colonel agrees but asks the American Major to do him a favor by also destroying a munitions dump located at some distance away.He also requests that Madame Sue-Mei Hung, the widow of a Chinese colonel, be transported by the American demolition team to the nearest major town.
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Beautiful, moving film.
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
I watched this movie on commercial late-night TV when I was 17 (in 1969). I am sure I then missed most of what was there to be gleaned, however, the soundtrack was compelling.The movie is something of a preview of coming events (not unlike "The Sand Pebbles") with respect to our involvement in Vietnam. I cannot understand how intelligent people could overlook the problems occasioned by fighting a war in a culture so different from our own.The grist of the movie is how power impacts people and that it is not likely that the first time it is granted, the recipient will be ready. I thought Stewart did an excellent job of articulating his conflict, and regrets, over his use of power, and the female lead's character seemed a little unsympathetic to a man who was genuinely conflicted.The movie leaves me with a trace of melancholy. In 1960, when it was released, there was still time to avoid the all but unfathomable foreign policy blunders of the late '60s. Vietnam impacted the thinking of much of the baby boom generation, and not for the better. It leaves me thinking that the war was fought mostly to satisfy the Joint Chiefs (after Cuba was off limits) and to generate huge amounts of cash for the defense industry.
THE MOUNTAIN ROAD is an unusual WW2 film in that the enemy combatants are never actually seen during the production, only referred to. Jimmy Stewart and his men are busy blowing up bridges and ammunition dumps in readiness for the imminent arrival of the Japanese in China, but the main thrust of the story is a more nuanced and character-focused drama in which Stewart becomes obsessed with dispensing justice against the Chinese looters who threaten the safety of his men.For a little-known film such as this, THE MOUNTAIN ROAD is surprisingly good in places. Although it's slow and almost entirely lacking in battle action, the characters are what keep you watching. The Arizona locations successfully convince as rural China and Stewart's steady presence sees the movie through from beginning to end. My favourite character by far is the one played by the excellent Chinese-American actress Lisa Lu, who would later star in Shaw's 14 AMAZONS. Lu is far more than just a love interest and her subtle performance is really fantastic; few performers could convey her level of anguish through just a few words and expressions. In some instances THE MOUNTAIN ROAD manages to have its cake and eat it by offering the spectacle of a massive explosive set-piece and a great climatic action scene while at the same time remaining resolutely anti-war.
The gangly James Stewart doesn't seem to understand anything or anyone other than his own culture, and how to treat ladies in this film. His character is despicable, and there are times when he is downright racist saying 'I don't take advice from Chinese people any more'. He fails to take you on the journey with him, and you get the feeling that in 1960 at the age of 52, he is growing old and getting set in his ways. His characters seems to be fixed at this point in his career which is why there is very little room for him to grow as an actor. Only John Ford would take him to the next level in 'The Man who shot Liberty Valance' two years later.
I am a huge Jimmy Stewart fan. Yet this film left me cold. I think that the director and the screenplay conspire to not let him develop as a character. One time he is doing some poignant scene, where one thinks he has turned a corner in his short-sighted racist view of the larger world, and in moment, he goes right back to where he was. There's no carry-over. This film takes place in 1944 as the U. S. forces are in Chine, looking out for a tenuous ally. This particular group is a demolitions team whose purpose is to blow up roads and bridges and move on. The Japanese are very formidable and have decimated the Chinese people. Stewart expects the Chinese to act like Americans (Sound familiar?) but can't get them to follow his lead. Starvation and pain have a way of doing that. His relationship with a Chinese woman is the most interesting. I'm sure the cowardly film boards kept anything from happening. Once that factor in the film is thrown out, there is a skeleton left and it's not a very interesting one.