THE MOUNTAIN ROAD (1960) James Stewart - Public Domain DVD NO CASE

THE MOUNTAIN ROAD (1960) - DVD - Starring - James Stewart,Lisa Lu,Glenn Corbett - Public Domain Movie Disc only Free Post - Black & White - VERY RARE DELETED DVD  

The Mountain Road is a 1960 war film starring James Stewart and directed by Daniel Mann. Set in China and based on the 1958 novel of the same name by journalist-historian Theodore H. White,[2] the film follows the attempts of a U.S. Army major to destroy bridges and roads potentially useful to the Japanese during World War II. White's time covering China for Time magazine during the war led to an interview with former OSS Major Frank Gleason Jr.,[3] who served as head of a demolition crew that inspired the story and film. Gleason was later hired as an uncredited technical adviser for the film.

The film is a rather somber treatment of World War II and includes themes that were taboo for Hollywood during the war years, such as tensions between allies and racism among American troops. The protagonist is a frustrated and morally conflicted U.S. officer unsure about the value of his mission. For these reasons, The Mountain Road is often labeled as anti-war, but it was made with the cooperation of the Pentagon, and it is much more respectful of the military as an institution than are the well-known anti-war films of the 1960s and 1970s.

As a World War II combat veteran, Stewart had vowed never to make a war film, concerned they were rarely realistic. The Mountain Road was the only war movie set during World War II in which he starred as a combatant. Stewart, however, had been featured in a wartime short, Winning Your Wings (1942) and in a civilian role in Malaya (1949). Harry Morgan, another cast member in The Mountain Road, later said he believed that Stewart made an "exception for this film because it was definitely anti-war."

Plot
In 1944, Major Baldwin (James Stewart) of the United States Army Corps of Engineers is ordered to blow up an airfield. Headquarters in Kunming orders him to then use his pre-war engineering expertise to delay the advancing Japanese forces as much as possible while retreating by road, but General Loomis (Alan Baxter) gives him the option to return with him to base by air. Baldwin makes the riskier choice to lead his first command. Loomis is reluctant to let him, because of his inexperience as a commander, but relents.

War brings Major Baldwin and Madame Su-Mei Hung together in an unlikely pairing.
Baldwin has at his command Sergeant Michaelson (Harry Morgan), Prince (Mike Kellin), Lewis (Eddie Firestone), Miller (Rudy Bond), Collins (Glenn Corbett), the demolition team's translator, and two other soldiers, a Jeep and four trucks. On the road, Baldwin finds out from Chinese commander Colonel Li (Leo Chen) that the Japanese wish to capture a munitions dump 120 miles (190 km) away. Li wants Baldwin to blow up the munitions, but Baldwin does not want to go that far out of his way. Li assigns Colonel Kwan (Frank Silvera) to the team, but before they can embark, Madame Sue-Mei Hung (Lisa Lu), the American-educated widow of a general, joins them, with Baldwin gradually becoming attracted to her. Her husband was executed when he disobeyed one order whilst obeying a different one.

Baldwin blows up a bridge and uses deceit to push a civilian truck over a cliff to keep on pace, trying to reach the munitions dump before the Japanese. Sue-Mei and Baldwin are at odds over his cavalier treatment of the Chinese when he resorts to blowing up a mountain road, leaving thousands of local Chinese refugees trapped. After stopping at a village because Miller is ill with pneumonia, Collins tries to give out the surplus food the team has brought, but is trampled to death by starving villagers. Baldwin is furious and resolute in trying to complete his mission, and is finally successful in blowing up the munitions storage.

Baldwin sends Miller in ahead in one of the army trucks to transport the ailing Lewis and the body of Collins. They discover it stolen by Chinese bandits/army deserters with Miller and Lewis found having been stripped and executed. Baldwin exacts revenge by rolling a gas barrel into the bandits' outpost and setting the village on fire. Baldwin asks Sue-Mei to understand why he had to act that way, but there is no reconciliation between them as she cannot forgive him and she leaves him. Although recognizing that his retribution was fundamentally excessive and brutal, Baldwin radios his report to headquarters, and is praised for fulfilling his mission.

102 Mins

Please note this DVD movie is over 50 years Old and in Colour, it will not be up to today's high Quality, although the Quality is very good and can be watched on a large screen. Please remember it was made for the older screens though and not digital.