''Escape to Burma'' is a 1955 American
Technicolor
Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
adventure film
The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...
directed by
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.
Early life
Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan was ...
starring
Barbara Stanwyck,
Robert Ryan and
David Farrar. The film was based on the short story "Bow Tamely to Me" by
Kenneth Perkins, originally published in the October 31, 1936 issue of ''
Collier's
}
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
'' (reprinted in the June 1938 issue of ''
Pearson's Magazine'').
Plot
In the 1920s,
British Burma
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
, the son of a local ruler, the Sawbwa, was killed - apparently by his European mining partner, Jim Brecan. The Sawbwa wants Brecan caught and executed, while Captain Cardigan wants him caught for trial. Brecan flees through the jungle with a bag of rubies from the mine and reaches the estate of Gwen Moore, who uses elephants to harvest teak. Brecan arrives there calling himself "Jim Martin". He and Gwen are attracted to each other. After he helps her deal with some problems, including a killer tiger, she makes him her manager.
Cardigan arrives at the estate, and Brecan flees when he realizes who Cardigan is. Gwen follows them, preventing Brecan from killing Cardigan, which allows Cardigan to capture Brecan. He starts to take them back to Rangoon. However, when they stop for the night, they are attacked by
Kaw bandits, which allows Brecan to escape. Weather soon forces all three to spend another night together in an abandoned Buddhist temple. Brecan and Gwen return to her estate, where the local police attack. After Gwen is wounded, Brecan surrenders. He is taken to Rangoon for punishment.
A boy who was the dead prince's servant shows up with a letter from the prince to the Sawbwa. The Sawbwa condemns Brecan to death; he is taken out for a pre-execution flogging. Gwen and Cardigan arrive, and she convinces the Sawbwa to read the letter. The prince had the plague and, in his delirium, was about to expose a village to the disease, forcing Brecan to shoot him. The Sawbwa releases him. Brecan gives all the rubies to the Sawbwa, and it appears Brecan and Gwen will live happily ever after.
Cast
*
Barbara Stanwyck as Gwen Moore
*
Robert Ryan as Jim Brecan/Martin
*
David Farrar as Cardigan
*
Reginald Denny as The Commissioner
*
Robert Warwick
Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien; October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...
as The Sawbwa
*
Murvyn Vye as Makesh
*
Lisa Montell as Andora
*
Robert Cabal as Kumat
Reception
The film was made on a budget of just over $2 million and made roughly $2.5 million at the box office. Most reviews for the movie were positive. The film was noted because the indigenous people of southeast Asia were portrayed as being "respectable" and "dignified" at a time when they were frequently the subject of negative stereotypes in other films. The practice of
indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of public administration, governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires. This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire to control their possessions in Colonisation of Afri ...
in the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
was also accurately portrayed in the film, as members of the British authorities are portrayed as showing deference to local rulers such as the Sawbwa.
[The Journal of Cinema and Media Vol. 51, No. 2 (FALL 2010), pp. 324-333]
See also
*
List of American films of 1955
References
External links
*
{{Allan Dwan
1955 films
1950s adventure drama films
Films directed by Allan Dwan
American adventure drama films
Films set in Myanmar
Films based on short fiction
RKO Pictures films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films
English-language adventure drama films