JLRMovieReviews Barbara Stawyck, Robert Ryan, and David Farrar star in "Escape to Burma," an escapist over-the-top adventure. We open in court and the king is throwing his weight around, telling David Farrar to find Robert Ryan, who has been identified as the one who shot the prince. From the get go, I couldn't stop laughing at the music. It all seemed like an Arabian music video. After ten minutes or so, it got serious and David went on his way through the jungle and vast lands to get his man, and we see Robert Ryan battling the brush (on a stage set, maybe) to run from the law. Along the way, he meets Barbara and makes a conquest. After falling for him, she decided he couldn't possibly be as mean as he's purported to be. So she defends him. Will she fight for her man to the death? Is Robert wrongfully accused? While the film does manage to keep your attention in this anything-can-happen (and will) unintentionally funny and campy film, it still feels like an embarrassment to all considered and is far from the best material that any of the stars have been in. (By the way, anyone looking for quicksand, crocodiles and piranhas won't get them here.) If you love obvious eye-candy adventures, then this is a quick fix for you with no thinking involved.

pete36 The BBC aired this recently and as it was directed by super veteran Allan Dwan I happened to tape it.Ryan plays the typical US macho hero of the fifties, a fightin',shootin'(a Luger no less!) and kissin'guy. Mrs. Stanwyck is the owner of a plantation near Rangoon and she is not to be messed with. Third character is your run-of-the mill British, slightly repressed policeman, on the hunt for Ryan who supposedly has murdered the son of the local potentate.If you are a fan of Dwan's work better skip this one. The only good thing about it is the crisp clear color photography, the rest is pretty embarrassing. Clichéd would be putting it mildly. The script seems to be written in an afternoon and the same can be said of the movie itself.It is a bit unfair to Allan Dwan, as he made countless movies and still turned out some excellent stuff near the end of his very long career, as the classic marine epic "The Sands of Iwo Jima" and the sexy "Slightly Scarlet". So do not judge him on this silly jungle epic.

dallesmac Direction, acting and virtually everything else about this mid-fifties pulp action flick are too flat to make it more than mildly enjoyable in a camp way. Ryan and Farrar fare better than Stanwyck, whose performance here unintentionally verges on self-parody. Stanwyck is very watchable here, but the script is so lazy and routine that her typical (and admirable) energy in tackling the role works against her. Ryan more appropriately gives the script its due,expressing obvious contempt for some of his lines. For a fifties flick, the quick sexual hookup of Ryan and Stanwyck is surprising (though a 10-year-old kid could see the film and not know what was happening between them).I think this and "Cattle Queen of Montana" are Stanwyck's only color films. Black and white works better for her; the heavy makeup here makes her look inappropriately feverish, even for a jungle flick. "Escape to Burma" is enjoyably bad in a mild way. I loved the back-lot jungle sets and obvious tropical foliage decoration. Nice house Stanwyck has there in the jungle too. Super art direction (always an RKO forte)."Slightly Scarlet," "Silver Lode" and "The River's Edge" are far more enjoyable and interesting Allan Dwan efforts from the fifties.

ianlouisiana I suspect you have to possess a highly-developed sense of camp to truly appreciate "Escape to Burma".Judged by nearly all conventional standards it is quite dreadful.Poverty Row production values,laughable performances, sub "Sanders of the River" script and a storyline William S.Hart would have rejected as being old-hat are all presented with a straight face. It was made by a man who directed his first film in 1911 and who lived to see Ronald Reagan become president.Ludicrously considered by some back in the sixties as an auteur,Mr Alan Dwan was a journeyman director who spent 50 years doing hackwork in the studios.Whilst respecting,at least quantitavely,his output,there is very little in it that suggests he ever did more than take the money and run.He bought the product in on time and under budget;period.Presumably in the spirit of post-modern irony praise has been heaped on "Escape to Burma" for portraying its heroine as an unprincipled man-hungry bitch - a giant leap for womankind indeed. Miss Barbara Stanwyck tackles this role with gusto and strides about the set barking orders to her mahouts with barely concealed glee.She has two men to choose from,macho sneering Mr Robert Ryan or borderline closet queen(and ,worse,English borderline closet queen)Mr David Farrar. Mr Ryan oozes testosterone,Mr Farrar oozes Guerlaine's "Ode".Mr Ryan is wanted for murder,Mr Farrar is the Marshal(sorry,policeman),come to take him to jail.No contest there then. The two boys spend a lot of time fighting and trying to avoid knocking over bits of scenery .Miss Stanwyck and Mr Ryan go on a tiger hunt,their quarry clearly not even photographed on the same film stock let alone the same set.To everybody's surprise and relief Mr Ryan is revealed to be innocent after all,but not before being tortured and whipped whilst gritting his teeth bravely.Sadists and masochists are people too,you know.Where was Mr Dwan's head when he was making this?God alone knows. He was 72 at the time - I suspect he was having a senior moment.