Errol Flynn – Objective, Burma!

I think I’ve seen every war movie and western ever made thanks to my father who loved to watch movies at night after the news.

Yesterday, I was flipping through the cable channels and stopped on Turner Classic Movies because they were showing Objective, Burma!. I’ve seen this movie dozens of times but I just can’t pass it up.

It was made in 1944-45 while WWII was still going on. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Story, which is an award the Academy doesn’t give out anymore. It was directed by Raoul Walsh and starred Errol Flynn.

A group of soldiers parachute into Burma to blow up a radar station, then have to walk back to base. Complications ensue and they have to spend a lot more time marching and avoiding the Japanese forces than they expected.

Good action, witty dialogue, and the very handsome Errol Flynn. It’s a little dated because of the very strong war propaganda. But the film is made with such efficiency, no wonder it was nominated for an editing Oscar. There is a scene at the end of the movie where they send up a flare and it’s just plain creepy. Rent it.

Here is the man all cleaned up: