A better title would have been Escape IN Burma. A Technicolor jungle adventure, starring Barbara Stanwyck, as American teak forest queen Gwen Moore, and Robert Ryan, as American mining engineer/entrepreneur, Jim Brecan. Brecan had a 50-50 partnership with the prince of the local principality. They seemed to mostly mine precious gems, such as rubies. However, the prince was recently shot to death for unknown reason, and Brecan is the prime suspect. Perhaps robbery was a prime motive, as he took a sack of high value rubies with him when he fled into the jungle....... There is conflict over whether the justice system of the British or of the local Swabwa(ruler) should define the fate of Brecan. Cardigan, the British investigator chosen to bring in Brecan, wants a British trial, whereas the Swabwa wants to execute him without a trial, as he appears to be surely guilty. Alternatively, searchers have the right to shoot him dead if he resists arrest.......Brecan steals a horse from the local native policeman, and heads for Gwen's compound, in her teak forest. He claims he's Jim Martin. For some reason, Gwen takes an immediate liking to him, despite it not being clear why he came. Soon, she makes him her manager. When Cardigan shows up and accuses Martin of being Brecan, Gwen can't believe he's a murderer. Cardigan points to Brecan's luger pistol, noting that the bullet taken out of the prince was from a luger. Eventually, Brecan admits that he did shoot the prince, but that he felt he had to, as the prince was better off dead than alive. We would not get a more specific explanation until the finale. Brecan, Gwen , and Cardigan would continue to interact for most of the rest of the film. Gwen didn't want Brecan to kill Cardigan, as that would be a capital offense, should he be declared not guilty of killing the prince. Brecan escaped several times, either from Cardigan, or from thieves, only to be caught again. The Sawbwa's posse was also out looking for Brecan. I'll let you see the film, to find out what Brecan meant by "better off dead than alive". I will say that things turn out well for Brecan and Gwen, as Brecan's excuse, surprisingly, is accepted, both by the Sawbwa, and by Cardigan....... There are occasional shots of jungle animals, mostly Gwen's tame elephants, used in hauling teak logs to the river. However, at one point, her workers refused to venture into the forest, because they claimed the forest tiger spirit had killed a large elephant, and might kill them. Gwen and Brecan took their rifles on a tiger hunt. Gwen was nearly mauled by a tiger after she slipped and lost her rifle. But, Brecan came to the rescue.. Another scary moment is when a large black panther is following Gwen, on her horse......... About the primates that frequented inside and outside Gwen's compound: I saw 2 chimps. Of course, their natural range is confined to central Africa. An orangutan was evident. Again, it's not native to Burma(Myanmar). I also saw what looked like capuchins, native to South America. On the other hand, I didn't see any macaque monkeys, leaf monkeys, nor gibbon apes: all native to Myanmar........Historically, the Sawbwa were hereditary rulers of the semi-independent Shan States, of east Burma...... Apparently, the filming mostly took place in the World Animal Jungle Compound, in California........Robert Ryan's flat personality always bothers me. .......Again, this film is available at YouTube

Ace photographer John Alton contributes the main reason a movie enthusiast would want to watch this Escape to Burma (1955). Certainly Alton tried his best to make the film look interesting by continually fogging his lens with vines, lattices, trees and what-have-you, but the incredibly stupid script (the deathless dialogue includes this classic of instant informative advice: "The monsoon's coming this way. We'd better find shelter.") is something of a letdown.A selection of ham's delight performances also defeat all of photographer Alton's efforts. Oddly, the movie is currently available on a 5/10 VCI DVD that is not presented in SuperScope and is vastly inferior to the trailer in color saturation. On the same VCI disc is the more noirish "Appointment in Honduras" (1953) in which the players led by churlish Glenn Ford just manage to breathe a bit of life into an implausible screenplay. Solid action footage also helps.

This adventure movie produced by RKO , Radio Picture Inc , deals with a man on the run for a killing he did not commit and he finds refuge and romance in an isolated jungle mansion . As a local prince in British Burma has been murdered , apparently by his prospecting colleague called Jim Brecan (Robert Ryan) . The bereaved daddy wants Brecan's head , no questions asked , but Captain Cardigan (David Farrar) of the colonial Rangoon District Force hopes to encounter him first for a fair trial . As the fugitive in British Burma hides on a teak plantation and find solace in the arms of a rich owner called Gwen Moore (Barbara Stanwick) . Brecan finds certain protection , thanks to a mutual attraction with Gwen and help each other , soon makes him indispensable . In the plantation Jim works as a right-hand man . Later on , they flee and find shelter in a Burmese jungle temple . The jungle , of course, is endangered by some kind of wild life , for this reason they find themselves in a strange atmosphere . There takes places a searing story of sudden love and sudden death in the hot green hell of the Burma jungle.Burma's balmy jungles provide the backstage for a torrid love between Barbara Stanwick and Robert Ryan , in this post-prime Allan Dwan effort . ¨Escape to Burma¨ is a B-adventure movie , a menace melodrama with a wide view of a huge tropical bungalow , exotic scenarios with rage excessively colorful , big bull elephants , an amazing mansion , a love story , chases and many other things . A monsoon , a violent as well as spectacular fighting between Robert Ryan and some bandits , elephants doing pirouette , a likable chimpanzee (though only live in Africa) and an orangutan are among the movie's extra added attractions . Action fans will enjoy the continuous pursuits and confrontations between Robert Ryan and David Farrar . Furthermore, an exciting final climax at the mansion in which the protagonists are besieged by an army . This picture bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Elephant walk¨ (1954) by William Dieterle that contains a similar jungle scenario (Sri Lanka) , elephants and known actors as Elizabeth Taylor , Peter Finch and Dana Andrews . ¨Escape to Burma¨ packs a colorful cinematography print in Technicolor by John Alton who along with Nicholas Musuraca are considered to be two of the best cameraman specialized in Noir cinema . Thrilling as well as evocative musical score by Louis Forbes . This quickie was professionally directed by Allan Dwan , a craftsman working from the silent cinema . He was Gloria Swanson's favorite director and after he began to work for Triangle in 1916 , he also won the respect of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford , who were , at that time, the most powerful couple in the film business . Dwan directed over 1400 films , including one-reels, between his arrival in the industry (circa 1909) and his final film in 1961 . Among them some good Western as ¨ Restless breed¨, ¨The rivers edge¨, ¨Cattle Queen of Montana¨ and ¨Montana Belle¨ , being ¨Silver Lode¨ is his unqualified masterpiece . ¨Escape to Burma¨ results to be an acceptable and passable picture . Watchable results for this classic adventure movie .

Homer Dickens in his book, "The Films of Barbara Stanwyck," suggests this is one of the low points in Stanwyck's film career but it's entertaining in a Saturday-matinée sort of way and has --considering its low budget -- colorful and exotic backgrounds. (True, these backgrounds have the look of studio sets but that only adds to an air of calculated escapism. The tiger hunt scenes, by the way, were filmed in Thousand Oaks, California, at the World Animal Jungle Compound.) The movie reaches a climax in the last reel when Robert Ryan, stripped to the waist and looking pretty good for a man in his 40s, is flogged across the back by a pair of enthusiastic whippers. Apparently he's been sentenced to death-by-flogging by the local potentate but this apprehension may not be quite correct. Some evidence suggests that the script's original plan was to have the potentate's men flog Ryan and then execute him by beheading but any mention of the "beheading" part of the potentate's sentence got left on the cutting-room floor. In any case, it's a memorable flogging scene and it ranks 20th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies."