America has never really known what to make of the Chinese, but in this lengthy and ponderous screen version of Theodore White's 1958 novel made during The Great Leap Forward but set when Japan was the common enemy a Chinese officer could declare "America is China's best friend!"
American major Jimmy Stewart puts his ambivalence towards his current allies on hold while concentrating upon the more pressing business of blowing up bridges and ammunition dumps; while Frank Silvera as a Chinese colonel adds yet another string to his bow of miscellaneous but usually sinister ethnic types.
American major Jimmy Stewart puts his ambivalence towards his current allies on hold while concentrating upon the more pressing business of blowing up bridges and ammunition dumps; while Frank Silvera as a Chinese colonel adds yet another string to his bow of miscellaneous but usually sinister ethnic types.