''China Doll'' (a.k.a. ''Time Is a Memory'') is a 1958 romantic drama film set in the

China Burma India Theater China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was offi ...

of World War II and starring

Victor Mature Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include '' One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darli ...

and Li Li-Hua. It represented a return to films for director

Frank Borzage Frank Borzage (; April 23, 1894 – June 19, 1962) was an Academy Award-winning American film director and actor, known for directing '' 7th Heaven'' (1927), '' Street Angel'' (1928), '' Bad Girl'' (1931), ''A Farewell to Arms'' (1932), '' Man's ...

who had taken a 10-year hiatus before tackling this poignant, yet "offbeat" film. The film's copyright was renewed.

Plot

In 1943, Captain Cliff Brandon (Victor Mature) is a cargo aircraft pilot supplying the Allied troops fighting the Japanese in China. When he is not flying or training his new crew hard, he is usually drinking in the local bar. One night, while stumbling home drunk, he encounters an old Chinese man who offers him a girl, his daughter Shu-Jen (Li Li-Hua). Brandon pays him, but when he sees the young woman, he tells the old man to keep her. When he wakes up the next morning, he finds Shu-Jen there. After Father Cairns (

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Be ...

), a longtime resident of China, expresses his disapproval, Brandon tries his best to get rid of her, assigning the task to Ellington, a young Chinese boy who speaks English well. Ellington tries to sell her into prostitution, but Father Cairns happens by and takes Shu-Jen back to Brandon. The priest finds out that Shu-Jen's father was a farmer, but he lost his land to the Japanese invaders. Destitute, he sold his daughter's services for three months to feed the rest of his large family. Cairns tells Brandon that, if he were to send the girl back, the old man would return the desperately needed money. So, over Brandon's protests, the priest gets him to keep the girl; Brandon tells her that she is there only as a housekeeper. He makes Ellington his live-in interpreter. Over time, however, love blooms, and Shu-Jen becomes pregnant. They get married in a traditional Chinese ceremony. After he is transferred to another base, she gives birth to their daughter. Later, they are reunited. While Brandon is flying a mission, the base is attacked. The returning flight is ordered to divert to a different airfield, but Brandon disobeys and lands his aircraft. When he cannot locate his family, he orders his crew to leave with the survivors. Then he finds Shu-Jen and Ellington both dead, but his daughter is alive. He puts his dog tag around her neck, then mans an anti-aircraft gun and shoots down one or two enemy aircraft before he is killed. In 1957, his former crewmates and their wives anxiously await the arrival in the United States of Brandon's daughter, found in an orphanage by Father Cairns, still with her father's dog tag.

Cast

As appearing in ''China Doll'', (main roles and screen credits identified):"Credits: China Doll (1958)."
''IMDb.'' Retrieved: May 22, 2012. *

as Capt. Cliff Brandon * Li Li-Hua as Shu-Jen *

as Father Cairns *

Bob Mathias Robert Bruce Mathias (November 17, 1930 – September 2, 2006) was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event, a United States Marine Corps officer, actor and United States Congressman representing the state of Californ ...

as Capt. Phil Gates * Johnny Desmond as Sgt. Steve Hill *

Stuart Whitman Stuart Maxwell Whitman (February 1, 1928 – March 16, 2020) was an American actor, known for his lengthy career in film and television. Whitman was born in San Francisco and raised in New York until the age of 12, when his family relocated to ...

as Lt. Dan O'Neill, Navigator (as Stu Whitman) *

Elaine Devry Elaine Devry (born Thelma Elaine Mahnken) is an American actress. Early life Devry was born Thelma Elaine Mahnken to Fred P. and Hortense Mahnken in Compton, California, where she was raised. Her brother, Jeff, was three years her senior. She b ...

as Alice Nichols (as Elaine Curtis) * Ann McCrea as Mona Perkins * Danny Chang as Ellington *

Denver Pyle Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling Jr. in s ...

as Col. Wiley, Brandon's commanding officer * Don "Red" Barry as MSgt. Hal Foster * Tige Andrews as Cpl. Carlo Menotti * Steve Mitchell as Dave Reisner * Ken Perry as Sgt. Ernie Fleming * Ann Paige as Sally *

Gregg Barton Gregg Barton (Born Harold Wilson Barker, June 5, 1912 – November 28, 2000) was an American actor, who played various roles in feature films and television series. Career Born in Oswego, New York, Barton is possibly best remembered for having ...

as Airman * Bill White, Jr. as Forsyth, Flying Tiger

Production

''China Doll'' had lingered on Borzage's desk from 1953 as an earlier story, ''The China Story''. Starting out with the working title of ''Time Is a Memory'', the film was the first co-production of

Batjac Productions Batjac Productions is an independent film production company co-founded by John Wayne in 1952 as a vehicle for Wayne to both produce and star in movies. The first Batjac production was '' Big Jim McLain'' released by Warner Bros. in 1952, and its ...

and Romina Productions; the next and last co-production was ''Escort West'' (1959), a western, also starring Victor Mature. Borzage had been a successful director throughout the 1920s and reached his peak in the late silent and early sound era with such noted films as '' Seventh Heaven'' (1927), '' Street Angel'' (1928), '' Bad Girl'' (1931) and ''

A Farewell to Arms ''A Farewell to Arms'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, set during the Italian campaign of World War I. First published in 1929, it is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant () in the a ...

'' (1932). During the 1940s, his films were not as well received and after the

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...

, ''

Moonrise Moonrise and moonset are times when the upper limb of the Moon appears above the horizon and disappears below it, respectively. The exact times depend on the lunar phase and declination, as well as the observer's location. As viewed from outsid ...

'' (1948), Borzage had stopped directing. ''China Doll'' marked his return to Hollywood, although he only completed one more film, ''

The Big Fisherman ''The Big Fisherman'' is a 1959 American historical drama film directed by Frank Borzage about the life of Simon Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus. Starring Howard Keel, Susan Kohner and John Saxon, the production is adapted from the 194 ...

'' (1959), while his last effort, ''L'Atlantide'' (1961), had to be finished by others due to his illness. The film was also known as ''Time is a Memory'' and shooting started 15 August 1957. Borzage and Victor Mature intended ''China Doll'' to be the first of several films they would make together, others including ''The Incorrigibles'' and ''Vaults of Heaven''. Principal photography took place in 1958 with location shooting at Saugus, California. To faithfully recreate the Kunming Airfield, documentary footage from World War II was incorporated. Although aerial action in ''China Doll'' took a secondary role compared to the melodrama that predominated, the following aircraft were featured: *

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by t ...

fighters *

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bombers *

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

fighters * Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports *

Grumman F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second ha ...

fighters *

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...

bombers *

Kawasaki Ki-61 The Kawasaki Ki-61 ''Hien'' (飛燕, "flying swallow") is a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft. Used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, it was designated the "Army Type 3 Fighter" (三式戦闘機). Allied intelligence initially b ...

fighter * Mitsubishi Ki-21 medium bombers *

Mitsubishi Ki-51 The Mitsubishi Ki-51 (Army designation "Type 99 Assault Plane"; Allied nickname "Sonia") was a light bomber/dive bomber in service with the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It first flew in mid-1939. Initially deployed against Chines ...

light bomber * Northrop A-17 bomber *

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber ...

fighter Li Li Hua had been under contract to

Cecil B. De Mille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...

who had considered her for ''The Buccaneer''.

Reception

Considered a modest but interesting film, ''China Doll'' received favorable critical reviews. ''Variety'' noted the film had, "the warmth and humor of a romance between a burly air corps captain and a fragile oriental beauty." Howard Thompson, reviewer for ''The New York Times'' found it "(a) familiar war drama (that) has some winning aspects. ... Under Mr. Borzage's leisurely, gentle staging, the love story dominates the picture."Thompson, Howard
"Movie Review: China Doll (1958)."
''The New York Times,'' December 4, 1958. More recent reviews have treated ''China Doll'' as one of Borzage's best and a fitting penultimate testament to his career.Parish and Stanke 1980, p. 469. A lengthy review by Dan Callahan laid out the tropes of his earlier works were present: "China Doll is a delicate, spare, old man's movie, with quiet attention to character detail (even Ward Bond's priest is sensitive and thoughtful). There's a melancholy, pessimistic slant to the dialogue that isn't lingered over; the movements of the actors and the compositions are so stylized and presentational that it almost feels, at magical times, like a silent film. The ending is surprisingly violent, even brutal, but in a brief coda, Borzage observes the regeneration of beauty in the couple's child, even as he has shown the lovers' bond and their kindness viciously wiped out by war."Callahan, Dan
"China Doll."
''Slant Magazine,'' May 11, 2007.

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * Dumont, Hervé. ''Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic.'' Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2009, First edition 2006. . * Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. . * Herzogenrath, Bernd.
''The Films of Edgar G. Ulmer.''
Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2009. . * Parish, James Robert and Don E. Stanke. ''The Swashbucklers.'' Highland City, Florida: Rainbow Books, 1980. .

External links