NIGHT PLANE FROM CHUNGKING – 1943This one is a lower end programmer put out by the B-unit at Paramount Pictures. This flag waver was made at the height of World War Two. It headlines Robert Preston and Ellen Drew. This one starts out at night, on a muddy road with a bus load of people trying to get out of war torn China. We have the war profiteer, Otto Kruger, the White Russian Countess, Tamara Geva, the Dutch priest, Steven Geray, the Vichy French Officer, Ernst Deutsch, along with the elderly Chinese woman, Soo Yong and her American nurse escort, Ellen Drew. There is an incident on the road when Japanese bombers hit the area destroying a Chinese Army truck. The wounded are loaded up on the bus and driven to a secret Chinese airfield. The commander of the airfield, Flying Tigers type, Robert Preston is less than amused with the unwanted civilians.This annoyance abates somewhat when he sees the pretty Miss Drew. Miss Drew asks Preston if he could give her and Madame Yong a ride to India. They have important business there. Preston laughs and says only if he got orders from someone in the Chinese Government. Miss Drew smiles and has Preston's radioman send off a message. Preston now catches the Countess, Geve, making a copy of a map in his office. The map shows all the Chinese Army front line positions. Preston grabs her up and has her put under lock and key. Now a radio message comes telling him to offer all possible help to Madame Yong. She is on an important mission for the Chinese Government. He does not like it, but, orders are orders. He loads up the civilians on a small transport and they take off for India. A third of the way through the flight, the aircraft is set upon by Japanese fighters. It is only with good luck and some fancy flying that Preston and his co-pilot, Victor Sen Yung save the aircraft. After diving into the old handy cloud bank, Preston manages to land the damaged aircraft. Preston gets on the radio and calls his base. He is informed that the spy, Countess Geve has committed suicide. But not before letting slip that she had a partner. One of the passengers on the aircraft is also an Axis spy. But they have no idea which of the passengers is the suspect. The radio then dies before Preston can ask any further questions.Preston decides to keep quiet about the info and see if he can ferret out the villain. He only lets the co-pilot, Yung, in on the set-up. Preston suggests they build a raft and take the nearby river right down to India. The Dutch priest, Geray, tell all he believes there is a Buddhist temple nearby. He figures they could get help there. Preston, nixes the idea, he wants everyone close. The next morning Geray has vanished. Preston smells a rat and puts everyone to work on the raft. Several hours later Geray reappears out of the jungle. He has found the temple. He tells all there is food and that the monks have a shortwave radio. Preston likes the idea of using the radio to see if his base has any more info on the possible spy. Geray leads them all back to the temple. Needless to say, they are all soon surrounded by Japanese soldiers. The Japanese officer bows to Geray and hands him a pistol. Geray is of course the rat in sheep's clothing. He is really an officer in the German Gestapo. He has everyone tossed into some basement rooms. Geray now intends to do a spot of questioning of Chinese diplomat, Madame Soo Yong. Preston and the men hatch a plan to escape. Slimy war profiteer Kruger however is not willing to risk his life. Kruger tries to buy his way out of danger by telling Geray about the escape plot. This only gets Kruger several bullets for his trouble. Geray heads to the cells to finish off Preston and the men. Preston and company turn the tables on the Nazi swine and kill him. The men release Drew and Madame Yong and the bunch hot-foot it back to the plane. The Japanese have thoughtfully repaired all the damage to the aircraft. Everyone piles on board and the plane takes off to complete its journey. By no means is this a top flight bit of film making, but, taken for the low budget programmer it is, it fills up an hour and a bit quite passably. Robert Preston was on screen from 1938 to 1987. He is best known for THE MUSIC MAN and an Oscar nominated turn in VICTOR-VICTORIA. Miss Drew was on screen between 1936 and 1961. Her best work is most likely the two film noir she was in, JOHNNY O'CLOCK and THE CROOKED WAY. Of some note here, is the aircraft that was used in the production. The Capelis XC-12 was a one off airliner. The aircraft had numerous problems and was soon deemed un-airworthy. RKO studios bought the plane to use as a non-flying ground prop. Several small scale models of the craft were also produced for flying shots. The plane itself, and or the models, were used in, FIVE CAME BACK, THE FLYING TIGERS, KING OF THE ZOMBIES, FLYING BLIND, INVISIBLE AGENT, THE IMMORTAL SERGEANT, WINGS OVER THE PACIFIC, ACTION IN ARABIA, TARZAN's MAGIC FOUNTAIN and five or six other films.

This picture is called "Night Plane from Chungking." I just don't see it. About five minutes, at most, takes place on a plane, and it's only in the last scene that night flight is shown. The cast actually spends more time on a night bus. "Escape from Chungking" might have been a better title.Another IMDb reviewer claims "Peking Express" (1951) is the second remake of "Shanghai Express" (1933). "Night Plane from Chungking" is said to be the first. Again, I just don't see it. In "Shanghai," Marlene Dietrich is a woman of the world. In "Night Plane," Ellen Drew is a virginal nurse. In "Shanghai," a noble doctor is Dietrich's love interest. In "Night Plane," a cynical pilot is Drew's love interest. In "Shanghai," when captured, the characters undergo psychological interrogation. In "Night Plane," when captured, the characters undergo only confinement. In many ways, in fact, "Barricade" (1939) is a more likely, though not credited, "Shanghai" remake.And while "Night Plane from Chungking," itself, isn't bad, it also isn't very good, being so dependent, as it is, on clichés. (Clichés, of course, are things that help us "to see it" before it even happens.) Example 1: Two people of a small party traversing China are actually Nazi spies, but, when the group's plane is forced down, we can't determine who the surviving spy is because the radio receiver -- as you might guess -- fails just before that revelation is made. Example 2: Who will survive their ordeal? Well, as in countless other pictures, you merely need to rank order the cast in importance to have your answer. (A most notable exception to this rule is provided by Hamburger Hill" [1987].) Too bad. With more time and effort, or Dana Andrews in the lead, "Night Plane from Chungking" could have been much better.